The Chance to be a Hero(Discontinued Till Further Notice)
by NIghtsShadeWolfess
Summary: On Vivosaur Island a new starry eyed fighter takes the stage in hopes of becoming a master, but in the end he gets a little more than he bargained for in the ways of "adventure" and "glory". All he can do is take it in stride. After all, not everyone gets the chance to be a hero.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _ **To Clean a Fossil**_

"Vivosaur Island, an island resort run by the Richmond Foundation. The first place in the world to discover the technology for the revival of dinosaurs in the forms of vivosaurs. As such the inhabitants of the island have enjoyed a premium on battle related entertainment and tourism revenue. Similarly, fighters brave enough to climb up the ranks can very well be paid wealthy sums to help in the setup of similar fossil parks, now that Richmond has decided to make the technology public if not still patented. These people become known as Fossil Fighters, the higher class fighters being known, respected, and feared worldwide. Their sole purpose is the excavation and revival of powerful vivosaurs so that they can continue over taking other fighters on the battle field." The boy repeated to himself as a single vessel skirted along deep azure waves, the sunlight beaming down to make the water shimmer.

The captain from his position laughed, sizing up the red headed child. He could barely be 14, maybe even a year or two younger. "Someone is mighty fired up. I'll bet you can hardly wait to get there. Let me guess, you're on your way to the island to become a Fossil Fighter ain't ya? I've seen that twinkle in your eye before! But it says a lot about you, lad. It takes bravery to go all the way to Vivosaur Island, especially on your own. Most people at least have a good friend or family member along for the ride," Captain said with a kind smile. The boy turned to the captain, sure enough the glitter in his eyes was all that needed to be said for him. It was a fire, nearly as bright as the color of his hair. His two blue orbs were trained on the captain with a look of steely determination as he gave a confident nod.

"I'm Captain Travers. What's your name, young man?" The captain asked with a look of curiosity.

"Blaze," the boy replied with a smile that was nearly as brilliant as his eyes. The confidence and strength that shown in his deep blue orbs was brilliant enough to blind the unwary.

The captain laughed. "They call you Blaze? I honestly couldn't imagine a name more fittin' for ye. It's perfect, a great name, I can already picture a famous Fossil Fighter named Blaze. I can see it in you, something about you is a lot stronger than the average fighter I find on my boat, you're goin' far kid!"

The two went quiet again for a couple of moment before Captain Travers caught Blaze off guard with a curious question. "So tell me, which do you like better, carnivores or herbivores?"

The boy pondered for a moment. "Typically I would tell you omnivores, but if I had to pick between the two then I'd have to go with carnivores for certain."

"Do you like the big, strong one or the small and quick kind," the captain returned.

"Oh hands down the big and strong guys. Just because they're big and strong doesn't mean they have to be slow. Because of a little incident, a story I'll maybe tell you another time, my sister got a vivosaur. Big and strong kind, but boy is the bugger quick on his feet!" Blaze said with all the enthusiasm of a starry eyed child.

The captain couldn't hold back a large and shaking laugh. "Alright them, which of these two do you like better? The fiery king, the Tyrannosaurs, or Tarbosaurs, the purple-skinned jaws of death!"

"T-rex all the way," Blaze said with a glint of embers in his eyes.

"I'll remember that. The tyrannosaurus fan, Blaze. Ah! Looks like we're about to arrive at Vivosaur Island. I'll tell you what; I'm technically retiring as a captain. Finally earned enough to settle down. But the sea is in my veins, I could never actually leave it. If you ever need someone to take you some place I can get you there faster and be here sooner than any of the other sailors. Just tell Beth you're one of mine, she'll get it," the man said with a gentle smile.

With goodbyes said and done with, the red head jumped off the boat, his feet once again touching solid ground. The boy, so reminiscent of flame, had never before been so happy to see concrete. Just as Blaze was quietly celebrating his return to land a pair of women walked up to him with great big smiles.

"Welcome to Vivosaur Island, where the dinosaurs of ages past lie asleep as fossils in the ground," the woman that spoke wore a deep blue skirt and dress shirt. Her under shirt was a bright yellow, which together honestly didn't look too bad combined with the soft, light brown shading on her hair, almost light enough to be a sandy color.

The second woman who spoke wore a similar outfit, but her colors happened to be magenta and teal. Once again however they didn't look eye bleedingly horrendous when paired with the light pink russet shading of her flowing locks. "Yes, welcome!"

The first one spoke again. "This is Vivosaur Harbor, Vivosaur Island's only port. New people arrive every day. Some are just fans of dinosaurs, but some are new Fossil Fighters in the making!"

The woman in magenta and teal took over again. "We work here as support staff for the Fossil Fighters. I'm Sue, and my coworker here is Beth."

Beth once again took her turn to speak. "To become a Fossil Fighter, you'll need to visit the Fossil Center and talk to Dr. Diggins. To get to the Fossil Center just go right up this path, straight ahead. You can't miss it."

The way the two had spoken back to back made it seem so rehearsed, but the way the two smiled at Blaze with easy and relaxed expressions spoke volumes to how much they actually liked their jobs. Yes, they most likely said this hundreds of times in a single day, but they both seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing, if they didn't then they wouldn't be able to do it so easily.

Blaze's attention was however ripped right from the pair as a man wandered across the street up ahead, muttering to himself. He had dark skin, covered by a pure white lab coat. His cyan locks fell over his face, shadowing similarly cyan eyes. "Scattered isn't he?" Blaze asked as the two women also turned his direction. Beth's face instantly fell into a look of annoyance, but an annoyance that was resigned like she already knew whatever was going on was inevitable. Sue on the other hand outright flinched. The man continued to mutter as he ended up coming near the trio. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes as if he'd realized something.

"Excuse me, Dr. Diggins," Beth spoke up. Her voice was sharp, edged with annoyance that couldn't be put into words. Perhaps she also dealt with this every day. "May I assume you're here to take our newest recruit to the Fossil Center?" Though she phrased it like a question her tone was strained and her words came off harsh, much more like a demand. Sue looked away as if she was seeing a train wreak right before her eyes.

Dr. Diggins looked at Blaze for only a second; the look of scattered confusion was obvious, before he turned back to Beth. "What?! Oh, a new recruit? Of course! Always happy to show a new Fighter the ropes! Let me just… Change this here… And maybe move that there? What was I supposed to do then? What am I supposed to do now? Oh never mind! I'll see you later," the Doctor said before sprinting off at a speed too quick and far too sudden for Beth to respond. There was a moment of dazed confusion in the eyes of the support staff before she managed to turn back to Blaze, schooling her expression.

"That was the head of the Fossil Center, Dr. Diggins," she said with a heavy sigh.

"Often occurrence?" Blaze asked with an empathetic smile.

"Oh yes, far too often if you ask anyone on staff. But he truly is an amazing man. Scattered as he is, he's usually trying to do ten things at once. Of course a couple things here or there get a bit lost before they make it in one of his ears. He'll be responsible for issuing you your Fighter's License. Good luck with that…" Beth said.

"I'll take you to the Fossil Center," Sue said. Her face was a lot more sympathetic, a small smile and a nervous knitting of her eyebrows implied she was embarrassed for the inconvenience, even if it wasn't her fault. Sue led the red head down the street until they were outside the center. "Here we are. I'm always on duty at the waterfront, so if you have any questions, come and ask me anytime. It would be my pleasure to assist in any way I can." The woman walked away, leaving Blaze to him own devices more or less.

Upon entering another woman spoke up. This time the colors were purple and green, her hair almost a greenish blonde. Strange color, not unpleasant, but certainly strange. "Welcome to the Fossil Center, I'm Wendy! If there's anything I can help you with today, please let me know." She said with chipper smile.

Blaze walked over to the counter, returning the look with a giant smile of his own. "Hi there, I'm Blaze. I was hoping I could register to become a Fossil Fighter?"

"Dr. Diggins just returned a little while ago, but has unfortunately wandered off again. It might be a while before he returns or someone finds him. You might want to go over to the hotel and check in while you wait. It's right next door. I'll see you in a little while," Wendy said with a look that was somewhere between Beth's and Sue's. Sympathy, but also deeply rooted annoyance.

Blaze in turned gave her a look of sympathy, knowing exactly how she felt. "People wandering off is just great, isn't it? My sister used to get herself in trouble doing that a lot, I completely understand." The boy gave a slight dip of his head before turning on his heels and darting out of the building. Once outside he was assailed by a scream.

"Waaaaaaah! I can't stop! Out of the way!" A girl cried. Blaze's eyes locked on to the woman running in his direction, her speed was way too fast for her to stop herself. The boy jumped back slightly. He reached out his arms and with a strength that was superior to her speed, was able to stall her.

"Hey, hey! You okay?" He asked with a frown as the girl nearly slammed into the ground. She would have if Blaze hadn't pulled her towards him, bringing her closer to steady her and help her regain her footing. Carefully he let go of her after he made complete sure that nothing was injured or broken and she was able to properly stand.

"I'm so sorry…" the girl said. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"Not at all, you could have honestly ran straight into me and you still would have gotten more hurt than I would have. But, if I may be so bold as to ask, why were you running that fast?" Blaze said. He tilted his head to the side in his confusion.

"I was running to try and get in shape, you know? Anyway, I must have gone too fast, 'cause I couldn't slow down! I'm really sorry," she said with a slight frown.

"No worries, just be more careful next time. Bye, bye," Blaze said with a slight wave, he turned away towards the direction of the hotel and broke into a sprint.

The girl watched him go for a moment. "So cool," she said with a slight glitter in her eyes.

Blaze walked into the hotel wondering how he was going to find his room, only to be greeted by a man that was obviously the manager. "Welcome to the Relic Hotel, where we provide quality lodging for aspiring Fossil Fighters! We've been expecting you, Blaze. Right this way please," the manager said with the upmost respect. It was curious; this man didn't even know who Blaze was. All he knew is that Blaze was able to pay a month's stay up front. Was that really all it took to make people not ask questions? "This elevator will take you to your room. It's the last one on the left. Please enjoy your stay," with that the man bowed his head and once again Blaze was left on his own.

The boy stepped into the elevator, waiting for a moment. The door closed and then his body was being dragged upwards. It was kind of funny to think; in some parts of the world kids his age were just starting high school. In others his 12 year old sister was trying her hand at the preliminaries to one of the first Fossil Fighting competitions in the world, one that in spite of the fact it wouldn't be opening for four years already had to start its preliminary matches thanks to the sheer amount of people that were trying to enter. And here Blaze was, on the island where it all started.

When he got to his room it was plain. Bed, patio, shelf, desk. Nothing more, but he didn't need anything more, so it didn't make much of a difference. He would have dropped off his stuff or something, but he didn't bring anything that he couldn't keep on his person. The only thing of importance he really had was a simple cord necklace that hung around his throat. At the bottom was the fang of a dinosaur, or half of it at least. He and his sister had never figured out what the dinosaur it came from was, but it had been their good luck charm and she'd taken the other half with her.

After getting himself acquainted with his living conditions Blaze turned back to the door, taking the elevator and heading outside. Maybe Diggins would be back in the Fossil Center now. When he walked inside Wendy confirmed his suspicious. She recognized Blaze immediately; she told him that he was the only person on the island with hair of such a bright red. He was even more recognizable than one girl on the island that wore all pink. Even her hair and eyes were pink.

"If you ever meet that girl, be careful. She's a bit excitable and tends to drag others into things with her," Wendy cautioned.

Blaze simply rolled his eyes. "How bad can one person be? Anyway, thank you for telling me about Dr. Diggins return, Wendy. I'm going to go see him now."

Wendy waved goodbye and Blaze headed for the back room, the clean room according to her. "Dr. Diggins. A pleasure to finally get to meet you!"

"Oh! Hi there. Blaze, right? Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Dr. Diggins, the director and head researcher for the Fossil Center. Good to meet you properly. Sorry for my, earlier behavior. This place keeps me a real busy, you know? Anyway Blaze, fossil hunting is all kinds of fun. I shoulder know, it's my life's work after all." The researcher said with a warm smile.

"Do I know. Fossil fighting has always been my biggest passion," Blaze's look turned warm and reminiscent as his mind wandered to a story that was obviously best told over a long conversation with something hot to drink.

"Really now? Then you much have a story like mine," Diggins said with a similar look. Apparently his story was a little shorter as he seemed to launch into it. "I've been interested in fossils since I was a little boy. I broke my mother's favorite teacup and tried to hide it by burying it in the garden. A few shovel scoops of dirt later, I found a strange rock. I stopped digging to get a closer look at it, lo and behold it turned out to be a stegosaurus fossil. I was so excited I forgot what I was doing in the first place. I ran right back inside to show my mother. I got the scolding of a life time when I explained what I'd been doing, but I was too happy to care. That stegosaurus fossil is still my most prized possession," the researcher concluded with a laugh.

"Then why not revive it?" Blaze asked.

"Ah, it's a bit incomplete. Only a bone or two and not of the head variety. Which would of course lead to complications. You need the head to revive the vivosaur and then the rest of the parts are split into body, arms, and legs. The fossil I found doesn't really fit fully into any of these. Even if it did, I don't think I'd want to revive it. I just kind of like having it around. Oh, but that's enough about me. We've managed to get real off track. Let's get back to why you're here, shall we?" Diggins said, turning to the machine in the back and leading Blaze there with a practiced kind of ease.

"As a fossil fighter you search for fossils, dig them up, and then use them to revive dinosaurs in the form of powerful vivosaurs. Keep reviving stronger and stronger vivosaurs and you might hit Master Fighter. Of course you'll have to be careful. We don't know everything we can about vivosaurs yet, there's still a lot we're discovering every day. And fighting with such powerful beasts can be dangerous. You'll bring the fossils you dig up here to clean and revive. Cleaning is one of the most important parts as the better something is cleaned the more powerful it becomes. If you can't get 50 points or above in a cleaning then you can't revive the fossil. It would cause problems with their ability to function, it's better for both them and us. Most people don't do well on their first try, and very few fighters are able to clean about 70 with any true consistency," the doctor explained as Blaze watched a worker in the background flicking a drill across a rock.

"That seems like a low average given how many fighters are on the island. Certainly someone would be good at cleaning fossils?" Blaze asked.

"Oh yes, there are the few here or there that have a talent for it. But most people aren't born archeologists the way that some are. They don't know how to be gentle enough to keep from breaking the bone. A lot of the people that come here to be fighters aren't trained for that kind of thing. Of course people get better with time, but damages happen. You have to actually have practiced skill to clean a fossil well. Why don't you give it a try and see what I mean. I'll even let you keep the vivosaur if you clean it well enough," the cyan haired man said before walking over to a cabinet of sorts. Pulling out a large brown rock he set it down before Blaze, handing him a hammer and drill.

Blaze looked down at the fossil rock, picking up the hammer first. A long time ago when his sister got her first vivosaur she had been given a sonar out of the kindness of strangers hearts. With it she was able to start finding and cleaning fossils. She'd taken to it like an old expert. He never got to clean any but he was able to watch her often, so he tried to remember what she'd do. Chip away the first two outer layers with the hammer, being careful to hit close enough to the last spot that it would continue cleaning, but also being careful enough that you didn't hit bone. Once it was the last layer of soft dirt move on to the drill. Never let it linger in one place too long, skim over the remaining dirt quickly, don't hit the bone. Once you've gotten as much as you can blow away the dust and start hitting the small spots that remain. Good, Dr. Diggins had chosen something with strong bones as the starting fossil, which made things easier.

When Blaze was done he took a step back, his eyes turning upwards to Dr. Diggins. Diggins' eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. "100 percent without the slightest failure, on your very first try."

"My sister was able to start long before I was. We came from an island that was pretty big on fossil fighting. The people there have been doing it for a long time. As soon as she got her first Vivosaur out of sheer luck they started throwing her everything else she'd need. I used to get to watch her clean fossil a lot. Like she'd always say, 'if you know where to hit your hammer the stone isn't that hard'. I think there's truth in those words," the boy said with a slight shrug.

"Well… as worried as I am about giving you such a powerful vivosaur straight out of the gate, you've honestly earned it. There's nothing more I can teach you. Let's go revive your new fossil," Diggins said.

Putting the head fossil into the machine, Blaze watched though the viewing panel as the head disintegrated. It turned into particles of swirling light. Slowly from the feet up a giant creature appeared. It had dark grey skin with a green underbelly. Lining its back and head were massive spikes. "Wow," Blaze breathed as he watched the creature. On the screen was some stats and other nonsense. What drew his eyes was the name. "Spinax". It disappeared and out of the machine popped a tiny medal. Just as Blaze was about to reach out for the medal, Diggins grabbed for his hand.

"Now you be careful Blaze! When vivosaurs are cleaned at a high level they sometimes take on a mind of their own. I've heard of them being dangerous and rebellious, and those are the words of higher level fighters. No one, and I mean no one, has ever cleaned a fossil to 100 before. You are the first on this entire island as far as I know. Which makes me uncertain as to what will happen when you pick up that dino medal," Diggins said with a warry look on his features.

"What do you mean?" the boy asked as he now also eyed the medal warily.

"I've heard of a sort of, bonding process that happens when a fighter revives something above 70. I've also heard about it from fighters that use all the body parts. It's this kind of bonding that causes small and basic thoughts to leak between fighter and vivosaur, it's what helps people to battle and control such astounding beasts. Even then, it's only with certain people. But I'm not sure what might happen between a fighter and such a high class vivosaur," the word high class was enough to give Blaze's ego a kick in the pants. Was he not high class enough for it?

"Those certain people are called Empaths, at least where I'm from they are. They're a lot more common and a lot better at cleaning fossils over there. Most get up to the 90's. One has to be an Empath Fighter to understand their vivosaurs, but only 10 are born every year. Every 100 years there's a special one born, but they're also usually born sick and die early," Blaze said.

"Empath Fighters? I've never heard of that before. You'll have to tell me about what you know. But for now, I'd like to watch this and make sure nothing goes wrong. Go ahead, take the Dino Medal. It's your now.

Blaze reached out with a shaking hand, as his fingers wrapped around the cool medal he could hear wind cries whistling in his ears, sharp and high pitched gales that screamed all around him. Not so much even in his ears, but in his mind. It was a ferocious and panicked kind of sensation, one that screamed and cried and begged for understanding. Blaze was about to be lost in the sensation, he quickly grabbed hold of himself. _"Enough!"_ The silent echoing command brought a complete stop to the wind storm, the air going still and stale.

" _Who are you? Where am I? What happened to me?"_ The voice questioned as Blaze tried to get a hold on himself.

" _I'm a friend. You… died a long time ago. There are no more dinosaurs. But we revived you, we are humans. And I'm here to protect you and make sure you become as strong as you can be. Together we are going to fight,"_ Blaze replied internally. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Diggins starting at him with complete wonder and curiosity, the poor man had no clue what was going on. It just looked like Blaze had spaced out staring at the medal.

" _Fight? I like to fight!"_ The statement was accompanied by a giant roar that shook Blaze's bones and made him feel weak. A small smile slipped onto his face.

" _That's great Zephyr, because we're going to be the best fighters in the land."_ Blaze's reply was slightly exhausted. This was something he was going to have to get used to still. It was draining.

" _Zephyr?"_ The vivosaur questioned.

" _One of the Greek wind gods, it's your new name. Do you like it?"_ the new fighter questioned. His only response was the great beast giving another fierce roar and falling silent. Blaze snapped out of his trance turning to Diggins. "Alright, I'm done."

"And everything went fine? You know, you look okay. I'll grill you on the details later. You must be getting impatient so let's take that vivosaur to the Fossil Stadium for a test. If you pass the test, you'll qualify for your Fighter's License. I should tell you that most people don't pass their first time, but a lot of people also don't clean a fossil right their first try either," Blaze nodded with a smile as the doctor left to meet him at the stadium. There was a whisper in his ears, a quiet but quick breeze that spoke of Zephyr's growing excitement.

"Alright Zephyr, let's go knock their socks off with your grand debut!" Blaze said. His feet pounded the ground as he bounded outside and made a b line for the Fossil Stadium.

 **(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)**

 **Alright, to anyone that may be reading this, yes, Fossil Fighters is a very old and nearly "dead" fandom. Especially with how many people were turned off by the newest game. But recently I rebought these older games since they were a big part of my childhood, decided to replay them, and then decided to write a story while doing it since I was too young when they first came out.**

 **After I'm done with this story I will be writing one based off of Champions.**

 **I hope that there's at least one person reading this story, and to that one person if you actually exist, please enjoy. If you do, maybe throw me a comment. Those things are an author's life's blood.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 ** _A New Fighter Takes the Stage_**

Blaze stepped inside the Fossil Stadium, a feeling of elation and excitement zipping through his entire body. His lips were curled upwards into a smile as he proudly strode forwards. In addition, he could feel the excitement of Zephyr growing in the back of his mind.

As he moved forwards he was met by a lovely assortment of pink vest, teal shirt, and hair just like Sue's. Blaze refrained from commenting on the similarity to a certain someone else. But as he continued to think about it the pair, in all honesty, looked identical. "Hello! Welcome to the Fossil Stadium," her cheer seemed genuine and enthusiastic, but how could it not be? Behind her was a large screen and underneath it was a door. Seemed like the woman tended to get front row seats to most matches, so Blaze couldn't really wonder why she was so cheerful. "You must be Blaze, here for your Fighter's test I presume? Doctor Diggings mentioned that you would be stopping by," there seemed to be more to it, but Blaze wasn't going to shove his head into the staff gossip if it wasn't negative. "First, I'll have you take the cleaning test. I assure you that the good doctor has already vouched for your skills, skills I have to say I'm rather impressed with, but protocol is still protocol. Even when it's senseless protocol and you had to just clean a fossil to get your first vivosaur. When you're ready, go on through the door to your right," Tiffany said, her smile only faltering for a moment as she tried to keep to her script and failed.

"Got it, I've just got one last question. What color are your shoes?" Blaze said. A small smile was growing on his face as he put two and two together.

Tiffany paused for a moment, completely caught off guard by such a seemingly random question. But the confused expression slowly turned into laughter. "Okay, now I'm really impressed. I assume you're asking because you're trying to see if Sue and I have the same shoe color, correct? Well, we do, green to be exact. Sue and I are twins, something your reaction seems to imply you've already figured out. As you might also be able to tell we're quite different in personality if completely identical in appearance."

"Night and day, but I think it's cool. Nice to know there are twins working here in case your personalities switch and I can't figure out why " Blaze said with a wink. This earned him a smile from the receptionist. Their personalities really were night and day. While Tiffany was bold, excitable, and a good person to complain about the world with, Sue had already proven herself to be meek and easily embarrassed, thought that wasn't to say she wasn't a sweet girl or anything.

"You know, we've never tried switching places, but we might just have to now!" Tiffany continued laughing for a moment longer as Blaze walked towards the door of the cleaning room. He had certainly managed to make the woman's day, and that was enough to put a smile on his face. Upon entering the room he met a robot, something you don't see every day.

"DEET-DEET-DEET! Greetings. I am KL-34N- -VEEP. I wish you the best, Blaze. Good luck getting your Fighter's License- - VOOP! You must score 50 points or higher in order to pass the cleaning test- -WOOOP! Let us begin- -VEEP!" Both boy and robot entered the cleaning room.

Of course, Blaze didn't take this cleaning 'test' very seriously. 50 points was nothing all things considering. That didn't mean he was going to be careless with the test either, just not as precise as he would have been should he have actually gotten to keep the head that he was cleaning. The rock was pretty average, not overly hard and not overly soft. The bone, on the other hand, was a little softer than the Spinax, leading to Blaze missing a couple points as he lingered too long. The fact it was little more than a glorified practice didn't stop the red head from getting a 98%. Blaze leaned back, nodding down at his work in satisfaction.

KL-34N led him out of the room once again speaking. "Excellent! You passed- - DEETDEETDEET! What outstanding technique! You will surely become a top-class Fossil Fighter, Blaze- -VOOP. It is now time for the next portion of your Fighter's test- -VEERP. Please see Tiffany at the reception desk- -VOOP!" The robot did a small spin before making his exit.

"Strange little thing," Blaze muttered to himself with a shake of his head. The golden bot didn't seem to have the ability to show emotion, its voice for the most part being blank. What 'emotion' he did seemed to be showing Blaze assumed was little more than programming. Finally, he walked over to Tiffany.

"Congratulations on passing your cleaning test, Blaze. Next, we'll have you go to the common room to learn about Fossil Battles," a woman walked up to the pair as Tiffany spoke. "This lovely young lady is Tipper, she'll be explaining to you how fossil battles work. Of course, she won't be able to explain all the nuanced details as we haven't quite worked out everything ourselves!" Tiffany's face turned into a cheerful smile as Tipper took a turn to talk. Tipper gave Blaze a big smile, her cheeks slightly painted to a shade of pink. The coloring seemed to reflect the kind of flush one might receive at the end of a hard work out.

"Hello! How ya doin', pal? Name's Tipper. I help out all the new fighters. Follow me for a sec, will ya?" Tipper led Blaze into a small room existing off the left of the front desk. Blaze followed Tipper, making note of her strange entrance. "This is the common room. Nothing special, but a good place to get ready for a battle. All right, here's everything you need to know to get started on fossil battles. Pay good attention!" Tipper said.

Tipper put the medal of an S-Raptor on the ground, motioning for Blaze to do the same with Zephyr. Of course, neither actually allowed their vivosaurs to leave the medal since this was only a demonstration. "Each vivosaur has a certain number of LP or life points. The goal is, of course, to reduce the LP of all your opponent's vivosaurs to zero. In most official matches whoever has the least LP will start first, but this rule often gets discarded outside of rank battles, most fighters favoring trying to use the speed of their attacks and vivosaurs to their advantage." Tipper quickly explained, her mouth moving a little faster than Blaze's mind.

"Next we have FP or Fossil Power. FP is the energy of not the vivosaur, but the fighter. Each attack a Vivosaur uses will require a certain amount of energy that the fighter must supply. This makes sense considering Vivosaurs don't eat or sleep or any of those normal things. We aren't completely sure how FP works yet, but we do know that using too much can be dangerous for a fighter, so make sure you're always careful with your energy. Of course, beginner fighters can only supply so much in the first place, it doesn't often become a problem until someone sneaks into a dig site that's got vivosaurs a little too strong for them to handle.

"Starting fighters will only be able to issue very basic commands," Tipper finally finished, bending down and picking up her medal. "Nice, Blaze! Now, it's finally time for your last test. An honest to goodness Fossil Battle!" Before Blaze could even come up with his own response all of his senses shook with an almost earth shattering roar. Tipper didn't even notice the sound, but it took all of Blaze's restraint and composure not to double over. "When you're ready, just talk to Tiffany at the reception desk. If you don't win then you don't get a license, so you better try your darndest. See ya, pal."

Blaze nodded, trying to keep the grimace off his features. "Zephyr, we really need to have a little chat about that," the fighter muttered under his breath.

 _"_ _Did I do something wrong?"_ The Spinax questioned. There was a curious gale, the gentler kind of breeze that rushed over his master. The confusion culminated in a sensation that almost made the fighter think his Vivosaur was tilted its head to the side like a dog trying to figure out human speech.

Blaze walked over to Tiffany. Now that his mind had stopped spinning he turned the conversation completely mental. _"That giant roar right now, you need to maybe tune it down a bit. At least for the time being. I've never had a Vivosaur before, I'm not used to that powerful kind of excitement. It kind of hurts if I'm not prepared for it,"_ Blaze calmly tried to explain to the Spinax.

The wind that had once been calm turned frantic, scattering in all direction. _"I hurt you!?"_ The vivosaur's panic was plain as day. Judging by its tone, it was taken aback by its own action.

"It's fine Zephyr," Blaze muttered right before coming up to Tiffany. He made sure he lowered his voice enough for the employee not to notice. Zephyr went completely quiet, almost like he was rethinking all of his actions up until that point. That or he was sulking. Seriously though, it hadn't been that bad, just a little irritating if anything. And kind of painful...

"Are you ready for the battle?" The woman asked with a great big grin. She was apparently just as excited to see Blaze battle as Zephyr was to battle. "Just step through the doors on the right and your opponent should meet you."

Blaze nodded, jogging towards the doors and ducking inside. A look of shock crossed his features when he saw who was standing at the end of the hall.

"Ha ha, we meet again Blaze! Do you remember me?" Captain Travers said with a giant grin.

"Duh," the red head responded, returning a smile of his own.

"Perfect! I guess it's time for your first Fossil Battle now. I knew you had that fire and I'd be seein' ye here soon. Don't expect me to lose easily," the captain's smile only seemed to grow wider with the idea of getting to battle the young fighter. The two entered the stadium. Blaze's ears were met with a couple loud cheers as the two walked to other halves of the stadium. There weren't many spectators, but it was to be expected. Only the popular, higher ranked fighters had fans and could pack a stadium. Above all the other cries Blaze could hear the whooping of none other than Tiffany. He was right about her having front row seats; the woman got her own booth!

Directly across from Tiffany was what Blaze assumed to be the announcer's station. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Fossil Stadium. For our next battle, we've got a new comer trying valiantly for his Fighter's License. Will he shine above the rest and get his on the first try, or will he just be another Joe smoe and lose to the likes of Captain Travers!"

"Kick his ass Blaze!" Tiffany shouted with all her might, easily out classing anyone else in the stadium.

"Talk about lungs," Blaze winced. Zephyr snorted in agreement. He was almost impressed.

"You ready kid?" The captain called from the other half of the stadium.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Blaze called back after taking a moment longer to look at the high walls on which spectators sat, the sandy floor, and the sheer size of the room. He'd taken a good long look at his surroundings which was one of the best ways he had to even-out the match.

"Let the battle begin!" A second announcer called out. His voice was a lot more excitable sounding.

Two arms shout out, Zephyr's medal was ejected out to meet his foe. The great Spinax, forgetting his early sulking, gave a ferocious roar upon his release. A Goyo was what came out to meet him. The captain who had the lower health was also faster to call out a command. "Rock head, Goyo," he cried out. The Goyo, thinking nothing of that attack, darted forward and slammed itself into the stomach of Zephyr. Zephyr gave a disgruntled huff, but the Goyo did little damaged compared to how much Zephyr was about to do. Blaze didn't even have to call out the attack the way that the captain did. The boy simply raised an arm, pointing at the Goyo, and a single thought formed in the minds of both Vivosaur and Master. Spinax Fang.

The attack made direct contact with the Goyo as Zephyr leaned forward, catching the much smaller vivosaur on its retreat. The Goyo shrieked out in pain but Zephyr simply sunk his teeth in deeper before slamming it against the ground. That was nearly enough to knock the poor thing out then and there, but apparently, it liked the punishment because it did its best to stay standing. Blaze shivered slightly upon seeing the eyes of the Goyo. They were glazed over, practically emotionless.

"Quick Goyo, Rock head! Don't let it get you," the captain called out. Once again it barely did anything to the large Spinax, especially compared to the devastation Zephyr has caused with a single bite. Goyo was stumbling slightly as it darted at Spinax, its own feet betraying it with a wobbly kind of gait. Zephyr jumped out of the way before jumping forward, his fangs crashing into the creature. In a flash of white, the medal fell to the ground. Tiffany's cheers got even louder, even managing to not get drowned out in Zephyr's victory cry. Travers sighed and shook his head, pointing at the entrance.

"A strong start to a beautiful new fighting career folks! Look forward to this one's battles in the future. For all we know, we're looking at the next Master Fighter!" The announcers cheered together as Zephyr's roar ended and the crowd could finally be heard. Blaze held out his hand, Zephyr's response was almost instant as he turned back into a medal and jumped into Blaze's outstretched palm. Both Blaze and Travers moved out of the battle area.

"Well how about that, Blaze! I guess that makes you an official Fossil Fighter. Of course, I already knew you would win. It just seems like the kind of kid you are. But don't get cocky now; I've got some advice to help you out. In the next couple of months, there's something called the level up festival. There will be a level up battled every single day, and if you keep trying hard then you can leap upwards in the ranks pretty quickly. It's a good way for new fighters to find where a good place for them to start is and a for old fighters to rise up a couple extra ranks instead of waiting for every other week. I'd recommend jumping as many ranks as possible while you have the chance. If you lose too many times on the same battle level, then you won't be able to keep trying even if the festival is still going. So do be careful, dig often, and clean fast," the captain smiled at the young boy fondly as Blaze nodded his head enthusiastically, a bright look glittering in his eyes. "Alright. Here's a little something for you. It's a fossil rock of the vivosaur you said you liked. You can't revive anything because it isn't a head fossil, but that vivosaur is out there somewhere. You have to go find it. I'm wishing you the best of luck kiddo. Hit me up whenever you need a ride and make sure to stay on Beth's good side."

As Travers left Diggins took his turn to approach. "Congratulations Blaze! You passed your Fighter's test. As a result, I can now present you with your reward. A Fighter's License!" Diggins handed the fighter's license to the boy. It said level 1 fighter in big bright letters. On the back was a blank line for his signature, which he filled in upon getting a pen from Diggins. "That is proof that you are now a recognized Fossil Fighter. Congratulations again Blaze. Now, you should head over to the hotel, it's been a long day and I'm sure you're tired. Your life as a licensed Fossil Fighter begins with a bang tomorrow. Get a good night's rest. Best of luck to the both of you!"

Blaze just as recommended headed for the hotel, the fatigue of the day finally catching up with him. Using Zephyr took a lot more energy than he'd originally expected.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

As Blaze got out of bed his entire back began to pop. "That's not normal," the red head commented to no one in particular. It was a habit, considering whenever his morning started back home the first thing he did was start talking to his sister. Inseparable as they were, his mornings always started out with them talking about how they slept and old habits died hard. However, instead of getting silence like the last couple of days he received a rather bland and muted array of thoughts and colors from a vivosaur that had decided it wanted to sleep in. "Zephyr," the boy gripped in a whiny tone. The vivosaur responded with a particularly angry gust, the kind that you might expect on a stormy night. The kind that would without a doubt make your shutters cry out as they banged open in the middle of the night. "Zephyr!" The boy gave a louder cry. Finally, the vivosaur resigned to the fate of an early morning, gave a particularly grumpy huff in a form of a pushy wind, but not a distinctly powerful one.

"I thought Tipper said you guys don't sleep," Blaze said.

 _"_ _Completely untrue and baseless. You guys just think we don't sleep because you can't watch us 24/7. That or the really poorly cleaned Vivoaurs don't. It wouldn't shock me considering how already creepy they are,"_ Zephyr responded. Such a response was easily the longest he'd given Blaze so far.

"You think the poorly cleaned vivosaurs are creepy?" Blaze asked. He had to be just a little tempted to agree considering the eyes of the Goyo the other day.

 _"_ _Without a doubt, I mean, you saw it for yourself. They just aren't natural anymore. Like that Goyo. It was just a puppet! I don't blame your captain friend, he obviously didn't know that something was off, but I feel like it's cruel to clean a vivosaur that badly. It just feels wrong, they can't think or act for themselves at that point,"_ Zephyr said. Both he and Blaze went quiet for a moment before Zephyr spoke up once more. "Thank you for cleaning me well. Thank you for letting me be intelligent. Thank you for letting me think." And with those simple three lines, the conversation ended.

"Hello?" A voice from outside Blaze's door called. It was a familiar enough voice and Blaze instantly realized who it was. He quickly found himself with a goofy smile on his face and an excited jump to each step. "Anyone home? Blaze? I forgot a few things," the voice said. Blaze turned and unlocked the door.

"How very Diggins of you," the red head commented as he swung the door open. Diggins gave a sheepish grin, he wasn't even going to try and argue the validity of such a statement.

"This is your Fighter's Journal. It's a good way for you to record information on your vivosaurs as well as what you're currently doing. I honestly suggest using it often. Also, here's a sonar system for finding fossils and a pickax for digging them up. The sonar device detects objects buried in the earth, including fossil rocks. You can also find jewel rocks, dark fossils, and even normal rocks. You should go get some practice with it, try heading over to the Trial Dig Site in the park," Diggins said. "Then again, after what I saw the other day you might already know! Alright, I've got to get back to the fossil center. Important fossil related things to do and all. Stop by if you have questions," with that the doctor left and Blaze took a look at his new gear. The sonar wasn't anything close to what his sister was using at one point. Of course, she'd ended up giving it up when she tried out for the Cup. It was improper, according to her, to come in swinging like an expert. His dear, sweet sister likely intended to use basic level vivosaurs. The ones she usually tended to ignore. Then again, even those had an average of level six considering how thorough she was at digging up all the body parts.

"Well Zeph, looks like we're going to the park," Blaze said as he turned towards the desk on which Zephyr's dino medal sat. Blaze was a relatively fast person, faster than the average person at the very least. So it wasn't much trouble dashing to the park. When he got to the park he asked for directions to the trail dig site and followed them to the T. As he came upon the site he was met with an interesting woman.

"So you're the new Fighter, huh? My name is Bea Ginner. No jokes, please," she said with a bored look in her eyes. She was so different from the rest of the staff on the island. For one her yellow clothing and red tie combination seemed rather muted compared to everyone else, her yellowish hair was plain, and her energy level wasn't even half of anyone Blaze had met so far. She continued, her eyes glaring down at Blaze. "I teach all the rookies the basics of digging up fossils. The trail dig site is this way. Keep up."

The pair walked until they came to a lovely patch of brown earth. Blaze's eyes darted around as he took stock of his surroundings. "All right, let me show you how to use your sonar. In the middle there is you. You hit this button here and it scans the area, all the little dots you see are either fossils or rocks that interfere with the sonar. Of course, your sonar is tiny and crappy right now, so that's going to happen to you a lot. Be prepared for limitless frustration, not to mention the damn jewel hunters. You should really try to buy the upgrades as quickly as possible if you want any chance of beating anyone with a semblance of skill. Of course, no one really has that until rank four so I'm sure you'll be fine until you get bored of this stupid little game," the woman gave a deep sigh and shook her head. "Just, look around for a bit and dig something up. You'll get the hang of it quicker by yourself. I'll just be over there in that chair until you wear yourself out." Under the shade of a tree was what seemed to be a luxurious beach chair. Next to it was a cooler full of who knows what. Blaze quickly found out what as Bea sat down and pulled out a bottle of something obviously alcoholic.

 _"_ _Well someone isn't like the rest of the staff…"_ Zephyr commented with a slight huff. Blaze, on the other hand, held back his judgment. There was no telling why Bea was acting how she was, and he didn't want to judge someone who might be going through something serious. After all, Blaze hadn't been the nicest person when he was a kid. He understood how a rough situation could easily crush you if you can't hold the weight.

 _"_ _We know nothing, leave her be. Snap judgments are rude and cruel, everyone deserves a second chance,"_ the red head scolded his vivosaur. His tone took on a slightly dangerous edge.

Blaze took the chance to practice digging up fossils. The first thing he dug up he already recognized. "Look Zeph, it's your brother," he smirked as he held up the fossil rock. He was able to identify it using a quick x-ray scan, the same kind one might use in a cleaning room. He was able to recognize the bones. Upon putting it against his case the fossil was shrunk down. "Spinax Head," the case chirped in a robotic voice, confirming Blaze's beliefs.

The next think he dug up was just a normal rock. "A shame," the boy said with a sigh. A disappointed whisper of a gentle wind roused his senses. It felt like Zephyr was looking over his shoulder, but not in an over bearing way. It felt like he had a friend. It was a deeply satisfying sensation.

The final rock that the pair found was brand new, a fact both Blaze and the fossil case confirmed. "Looks like we're going to have a new friend soon," Blaze said. Zephyr gave a sound that was almost similar to a purr as he agreed.

"Looks like you've gotten the basics pretty well; you just keep digging around as much as you please. Tell me when you'd like to head back and we can," Bea called over as she continued to sip her drink. "If only you were a couple years older and shirtless. Maybe then this would be fun for once," the woman sighed before taking another large swig of her drink. "Ha, like that'd ever happened though. There's no one on this entire damn island for me," she growled, not really caring about the prying ears of the 14-year-old she'd unintentionally started spilling her guts to.

"Actually, I think I'd like to go back and clean this new head…" Blaze said with a slightly nervous laugh. Zephyr grumbled, still set in his assumption that this wasn't a very good woman. They'd both just have to wait and see.

 **(-)(-)(-)(-)**

 **Another chapter down, many more to go! I have to say; writing any of the robots in this story hurts my very being. I don't like using the caps lock button very much. Luckily I won't have to do it often!**

 **Sorry if each chapter feels a bit shorter than it should be or if the pacing feels slow. Tutorials! Joking aside, I've never been the best at pacing so if you do have any comments in regards to it, they would be greatly appreciated.**

 **If you liked this chapter please be sure to leave me a comment. They can really make the day of an author and make them want to keep going. Especially when said author has a short attention span and wants to jump from story to story. As always compliments or criticism are welcomed as long as both are constructive.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _ **Old Bea Ginnings**_

Both Blaze and Zephyr were very confused when they walked into the Fossil Center and came face to face with a robot and a Diggins. "Ah! Blaze, perfect timing. Let me introduce you to KL-32N. She'll be assisting you with cleanings from now on."

The robot turned its, her, attention towards the young red head. "Pleased to meet you, I am KL-32N. Ever at your service! As doctor Diggins stated I am here to assist with all your cleaning and revival needs. In exchange I will be given the invaluable opportunity to observe your cleanings. I look forward to working with you, Master." The robot seemed to have a good bit more personality than the KL-34N, but there was still something that was lacking when it came to her personality.

"KL-32N will help you manage fossil rocks that haven't been integrated as well as help you with revivals. Like she said, KL-32N is a very advanced learning robot, which means she'll observe you as you clean and take mental notes. Of course, it wouldn't be very good if she observed improper cleaning techniques, which is why I've chosen you to be her teacher. It's a big responsibility, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it." Diggins said and KL-32N did a little twirl, as if to show herself off. Diggins laughed at the eagerness of the robot before taking his leave.

"What happened to 33?" Blaze asked upon seeing the gap between numbers.

"My brother, KL-33N was given as a gift to a man who was opening a fossil park. It was assumed that since he is the most advanced model he would be the easiest to copy and mass produce for every fighter partaking of the competition. Of course the original will be withheld should the need for him arise," KL-32N said. Though it was hard to tell her voice almost sounded remorseful.

"So basically, he got sent over because he was better? Seems a bit mean to you, doesn't it?" Blaze said. A slight pout was forming on his lips. They might be robots but that hardly seemed fair!

"I do not mind, KL-33N is an advanced model. Besides, I do not envy his fate. He will most likely be taken apart and put back together many times before they are satisfied enough to make duplicates, none of those duplicates will ever be as good as my brother or I, we are the best models to date, above even that of KL-34N. We are as one might say 'almost human'. It is best that I remain here. I will be given the chance to observe you." KL-32N said with a tone that almost turned smug. "Now, would you like to begin cleaning?"

"Sure thing Aurelia," Blaze said, easily taking the robot off guard.

"Aurelia?"

"Yep. It means 'golden one'. I figured it might be nice to give you a proper name, and everything considered it seems kind of fitting. After all, you are made out of metal and I think that you're a lot better than your brother, which means you're the golden one," Blaze said. "You are okay with me calling you that, right?" The boy asked. His smile quickly turned into a deep frown, worrying that he might have offended the robot.

"I like the name. From this moment you may call me Aurelia. Now then, let us begin cleaning. You have one new fossil rock that you would like to clean, yes?" The robot asked with what seemed to be a tone of joy.

Aurelia began to cry out with words of encouragement as the cleaning began, but Blaze's mind was gone the moment his hammer touched the stone. The entirety of his focus moved to cleaning the fossil underneath him. His eyes darted across the rock as quickly as his hammer. It was no time before he moved to the drill. Quickly he realized the bone was a bit softer than Zephyr's had been, a small cracking noise signifying that he had done damage. He jumped back slightly as his drill movements turned a lot quicker, little swipes of the dangerous tool running across the remaining dirt and trying not to break any bones.

"99%, a smashing success," Aurelia said. Her tone was pleased to say the least. "Analysis: Shanshan head. This fossil has not been revived. Commencing revival process," the robot said before deftly picking up the bones and taking them to the revival chamber.

Blaze watched the brilliant swirling of light as another skull was disintegrated and materialized into what Blaze hoped was a brand new friend. Zephyr seemed to share those hopes as he watched on with apprehensive curiosity. Blaze could also pick up on a note of possessiveness in the mind of the vivosaur. The Shanshan quickly appeared on screen. A giant pink skinned creature with patches of tan along its jaws and knees. Atop its head and ending its tail were large spikes of yellow. The yellow dotted other places like the ends of its jaw, fingers, and hind quarters.

"Hey there Venti," Blaze whispered in a gentle voice. The Shanshan's medal slid out of the machine and into his hand easily. The pink creature, much smaller than Zephyr, was scared at first. The light breezes avoided Blaze, deftly trying to block the young fighter out. But the boy was persistent. The red head returned his own feelings in a way that was similar to how his vivosaurs had been. A warm and gentle gust running across a sun lit field of warm summer grass. This image instantly brought a sense of serenity to the Shanshan.

" _Venti?"_ The small creature questioned.

"Right, Venti. In Latin the word means winds. The Venti were minor wind gods in roman mythology.

Venti seemed to perk up at the explanation of her name. She was much softer than Zephyr, obviously kinder as well. Both Blaze and Zephyr felt their hearts melting around the innocent creature. She seemed so much younger than Zephyr, but at the same time Zephyr himself seemed pretty young at times.

Just to clean out his fossil case Blaze also made sure to clean up the T-rex legs which had been a gift. He was already expecting it, thanks to the descriptions of his sister, but preparation didn't make the fossil any easier to clean. The rock was hard, making the red head wish he had a better hammer. In comparison the bone was very weak, easily yielding to his drill. In the end he still managed to get 94 points. "Not shabby," he commented to his two new companions.

Before leaving the Fossil Center he strode over to one of the V-Machines in order to properly name his vivosaurs. "As it stands, within the system you two are basically named Spinax and Shanshan. But if I go over here then I can name you two properly," he explained to the vivosaurs who were apprehensive about being near the machine. Blaze never wanted to leave any of his dino medals in the cursed contraption, he'd endeavor to make sure that he never did.

"Alright, back to the trial dig site!" Blaze said.

" _Why do we have to go back there? I don't want to see that lady again,"_ Zephyr complained at the commands of Blaze.

"Because one, I want to go see that lady again. And two we still haven't gotten a proper dig site we can go to. Hopefully we can talk to Beth or Diggins about it later, but for now we've got what we've got…" Blaze said. He wasn't very happy about the fossil selection, but he was pretty curious about Bea.

"Oh. You're back," Bea said with a look of annoyance when Blaze approached the woman. "Great, two brats at once. Corporate is gonna have my head if I start drinking now… Fine, let's go," the woman grunted with a look of displeasure. Blaze wasn't sure what Bea meant by two brats until they got to the dig site and Blaze caught sight of a strange boy. He had an apparent color pallet of black and yellow with a couple splashes of red around the head, chest, and feet area. All in all Blaze wasn't sure what to make of the clothes he was wearing, but like everyone on this damn island this new kid somehow rocked the style.

"I seriously need to take pointers," Blaze muttered to himself as he approached the boy. Venti growled as if to say no, no he didn't.

"Oh, hi there! You must be new. I'm Holt. Good to meetcha. By the way, you've only fought one-on-one battles so far, right? Care for a real battle?" The boy said quickly, his thoughts jumping from one topic to the next before Blaze could truly respond. Something in the way Holt phrased it was creepy to say the least. None the less, Holt didn't seem like a bad person and Blaze gave him the benefit of the doubt. Holt had a fire that was similar to Blaze's if a little less pronounced. The expression sent a jolt running through the red head.

"Bring it," the red head said, his hands flying to his pocket where he kept the dino medals. Holt smiled in response.

"Good reaction!" His new best friend commented as he pulled out his own medals. Both fighters sent out their vivosaurs, Blaze instantly took stock of what he was going to be fighting. An Igua and a V-Raptor. Neither looked particularly well taken care of, be it cleaning or fighting. After watching a match on the way back to the trail dig site Zephyr had come up with a theory. Vivosaurs could gain intelligence from being cleaned well, but the same effect could be achieved with enough battle experience. It was something Blaze was certain he'd get to test out in the future.

Blaze allowed Holt to take the first move, considering his vivosaurs were spectacularly weaker. "Veloci-claw!" Holt cried out. As if on some kind of auto pilot the V-Raptor had darted forwards and lashed out at Zephyr.

"That was… kind of sad," Blaze said as the Spinax barely flinched. Deep blue eyes glittered dangerously with an intelligence neither of their enemies could begin to match. "Show them what a real attack looks like!" Zephyr lunged at the Igua, nearly taking the thing out then and there.

Holt's face turned downwards at the sight. "Get the Shanshan and then get out of there!" Holt cried and the Igua followed orders. It lashed out at Venti, doing a good amount of damage but nothing close to what Zephyr did to it. After dealing what it thought to be a good hit, it retreated behind the V-Raptor and out of Blaze's reach. That left only the V-Raptor to handle both Zephyr and Venti. The two vivosaurs smiled at one another. The V-Raptor was gone before it even had a chance to attack. Zephyr gave the final blow to Venti who spent her wrath on the Igua. Tit for tat was only fair and Zephyr wasn't going to get in her way over it. The pair cried out in victory and Holt slumped slightly. Despite that he had a smile on his face.

"Wow! That's some good battling there! I mean, you beat me, and I'm pretty good. Okay, no, beat is the wrong word. You destroyed me without any reservations. Seriously, how do you get that strong? Anyway, I'll see you around. I need to go nab some more vivosaurs so that I have a chance of beating you next time!" Holt said before dashing off.

Bea had been watching the entire time, her eyes trailing the movements of the vivosaurs. "Wow kid, that was pretty good. You might actually get somewhere with your life, unlike me. You could actually make Master Fighter instead of only getting to Rank Seven before getting brutally crushed by your own crush and then having to live out the rest of your life teaching little bright eyed children how to lose," Bea sighed again, quite heavily this time, before moving over to her cooler and taking out the first thing she could grab. Whatever was once in the can she pulled was quickly drained in a matter of moments.

"You done here?" She asked, her tone slightly accusatory. "I'd like to be left to my sulking now," she said. Blaze felt a sharp spike in his heart. Zephyr's guilt and Venti's sympathy also weighed heavily on the back of his mind. Bea had dropped quite a lot in just a couple of sentences, and the Spinax was quickly rethinking his evaluation of the woman. Blaze would tell him 'I told you so' if he wasn't more worried about Bea.

"Miss Bea, if you would actually be so kind, what happened to make you like this?" Blaze asked.

"None of your damn business kid! You don't need to know my life; it's not like you'd actually care if I wasn't sitting right in front of you. What, am I an inconvenience to you too?" She sneered. Blaze actually flinched at this.

"No, that's not…" Blaze said. His expression turned to something you'd only really expect to find on the snout of a kicked puppy.

"Oh god, kid, don't look at me like that. Way to make me feel even worse!" She said, trying to turn her head away. "I just don't want to talk to a complete stranger, let alone a kid. Drop it, okay? Someone like you doesn't need to worry about it…" Blaze nodded his head quietly as she said this, leaving the trail dig site behind him.

As he did he was greeted by Dr. Diggins. "Hi there, Blaze! Hm? Looks like you've revived two vivosaurs already. In that case, I think you've learned everything you can at the Trail Dig Site. I'm giving you permission to travel to an honest-to-goodness dig site, Greenhorn Plains! Talk to Beth and she'll order you a ride." With that Diggins left, as if his only purpose was plot progression. Unfortunately Blaze wasn't in the mood for plot progression.

" _Can we please just go to these Greenhorn Plains and forget about this horrible woman?"_ Zephyr said. Though judging by the pout in his voice it was obvious he already knew the answer. There was a certain tone of guilt to his speech though, as if he was just putting on bravado.

"No Zeph," Blaze said. His feet took him the direction of the docks, but it wasn't Beth who he turned to talk to. "Hey Sue, I've got a question about one of the staff members," Blaze said.

"Oh? And who would that be?" Sue asked. Her smile was tiny and a bit nervous, but it was entirely warm, a sweet and genuine kind of expression.

"I want to know more about Bea Ginner," Blaze said. He certainly didn't get the response he was hoping for. Sue's eyes went wide, nearly bugging out of her head. She side stepped slightly grabbing onto Beth. After tugging on her arm to get her attention she whispered something to her companion. Beth's own expression turned downwards.

"We don't talk about Bea," Beth said simply. Her tone had gone a bit harsher, though there wasn't any anger really directed at Blaze.

"But why?" Blaze asked. "It just doesn't make any sense…"

"Sue and I don't talk about Bea because Bea did some nasty things to Sue. If you want to know, go talk to Wendy or Tiffany, not us," Beth said. She pulled Sue a little closer, allowing the other woman to bury her head into her. The tone she directed at Blaze was harsh, but by the worry in her eyes it was only for Sue's sake that she spoke with such a venomous tone.

"Lovely. More questions than I started with! Thanks for at least telling me who to go to," Blaze said. His tone was a little blunt and his expression vaguely annoyed, but Beth gave him a full out glare and he backed down a bit. Beth turned her attention away from Blaze, whispering something to Sue.

" _Tiffany?"_ Zephyr offered up.

"Tiffany," Blaze confirmed, turning on his heels and already making his way to the Fossil Stadium. If something had happened to Sue in regards to Bea, then certainly Tiffany would be the one to know.

"Oh, hey there Blaze! What are you doing here? There aren't any level up battles going on. Perhaps you're here for a practice match?" The receptionist said. Her tone was easy going, her posture relaxed as she leaned over the counter slightly. There was a slight glitter of excitement in her eyes at the idea of Blaze fighting, the corners of her mouth quirking upwards slightly.

"Actually, I'd like to ask about Bea," Blaze said.

Tiffany's smile disappeared and she sank down back behind her desk. "Oh," she said. She pulled out a sheet of paper, glancing at it for a moment. "Hey Lee!" Tiffany shouted at the top of her lungs. Out of the common rooms poked a female head. "Mind starting your shift early?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, no problem. Still owe you from that last time. Go have fun," The woman said without any question. Tiffany sighed, standing up and sitting on the counter before swinging her legs over. Blaze was pretty sure there had to be some kind of door around the sides to get behind the counter, but Tiffany apparently didn't seem to care. "I'll be back in a couple minutes," Tiffany said as she quickly ducked inside the Common Room. Tiffany was replaced by this new woman, Lee.

Tiffany's reappearance was a bit stunning. Her outfit had taken a complete change to something a bit less vibrant but definitely more eye catching. The blouse she wore was a bright red, it was met at her waist by a long black skirt that was embroidered with golden flowers. Around her neck was a pearl chain. Her shoes had become black flats which matched her skirt well. "Alright, let's go."

"Where are we going?" Blaze asked.

"Don't know yet, somewhere without prying ears," Tiffany responded. Her voice sounded a little more than tired, it was also easily the saddest that Blaze had ever heard her. The two walked for a while until they got to an area close to the water that had fewer people. "Alright, Bea, where to begin. To start off with, Bea was a fighter before she became staff, not really hard to believe if you've seen her in a fossil battle, but still a little shocking. She actually got all the way up to Rank 7 before she stalled. You see, Bea was someone who used to be extremely popular and beautiful, the kind of person you might look up to as an idol. She also had a remarkable personality, compassionate and always willing to stick her neck out for someone. You and Bea would have gotten along really well back then." Tiffany's smile was blissful.

"Of course, you already know that there was some trouble. A lot of other girls didn't like Bea because she was so beautiful. She attracted the attention of a lot of powerful male fighter. At the time she was best friends with Sue, but a rumor started to run around that Bea was just using Sue and she'd said all these bad things about her. Of course, also being a good friend of Bea's myself, I knew that all of these were just rumors. But Sue takes things at face value, and she'd already blocked off Bea before Bea had a chance to disprove the rumors.

"To make matters worse Bea used to have a boyfriend. Powerful Master Rank fighter, she loved him to bits. He was perfect on every level. Hansom, charming, a complete catch. He loved Bea, or at least he told her that he did. But one day her favorite dino medal got stolen, she'd cleaned every body part up to 80, making it one of the best vivosaurs on the entire island. The thing was an absolute beast! Then one day it just got up and stolen! No one knew how or where it went but it was gone. Bea was distraught and her level up battle for Master was supposed to be the next day. She still decided to take on the fight, and ended up getting completely destroyed by the man she loved. After the battle he dumped her, right in front of everyone, saying that he couldn't be dating someone so weak. Bea was crushed. A couple weeks later he sent her a letter saying he stole the medal and hid it. Apparently he did this to a lot of people, but he'd gotten caught, so he had to cut his losses and take on a new identity. Bea's medal was the one vivosaur he couldn't manipulate, so her buried it just to keep it away from her. Bea hasn't been happy ever since," Tiffany finished the story, shaking her head.

"Such a dark and unhappy story. It still hurts to know Bea might never see her best friend again. Either one of them…I wish there was something I could do, but I don't know where the medal is and I don't know how to get Sue to listen to reason," Tiffany's expression turned even darker, like she'd thought over the situation millions of times and still couldn't come up with an answer.

"Is there any sort of clue as to where this medal stealer might have left Bea's medal?" Blaze asked, desperate to come up with any kind of clue. He honestly wanted to help Bea just as badly as Tiffany seemed to.

"Unfortunately you'd have to track down the medal stealer and ask him, and to make matters worse no one has seen him since the incident with Bea," Tiffany said. "If you come up with any ideas, I'll jump to help! I just want my friend and my sister to be happy again"

Blaze nodded quietly, his head turning downwards. "I'll tell you if I come up with anything," Blaze said. In his mind he was carefully trying to analyze what he'd just heard. Could he find the culprit? Even if he could, could he force a confession?

" _Perhaps if we keep going through the island we might be able to find him. Tiffany said he just disappeared, but it can't be that simple,"_ Zephyr grumbled.

" _Oh? Are you finally on board with the idea of helping out,"_ the boy teased the vivosaur back. Zephyr only gave a huff in response. Oh, if only vivosaurs could blush.

"Bye Tiffany. Thank you for filling me in on the details. I should be going now," the boy said. There was a slight coloring to his cheeks as he dipped his head and attempted to bow out of the conversation. Tiffany just sighed, rolling her eyes and ruffling the boy's hair before he had a chance to completely leave.

"Don't forget to take care of yourself when you're looking for 'that one last fossil', okay? And don't worry yourself either. Bea, like the rest of the staff, is a big girl. It's our job to be team mom, not worry young fighters like you. She'll be okay. Eventually," Tiffany said. Her words began to waver as if she didn't completely believe herself. Blaze nodded his head quietly as if he believed her.

" _This isn't over, right?"_ Venti asked cautiously. Her voice carried with it varying degrees of worry.

" _No, this isn't over. But we're going to have to be a lot stronger if we want to take this guy down. Even if he's majorly downgraded in order to avoid the public eye, we're still in for the fight of our lives when we find him,"_ Blaze sighed heavily at the thought, feeling his vivosaurs give equally heavy sighs. _"So, let's head for Greenhorn and see what we can dig up!"_

 **(-)(-)(-)(-)**

 **I was playing Champions earlier today and I completely forgot you couldn't actually name your vivosaurs back in the original. I was pretty bummed about that, I wanted to be able to properly run around with Zephyr. Such a shame.**

 **For anyone wondering why Blaze keeps getting such high scores on fossils, I'm playing along as I write this for that express purpose. Coming up with how battles go or the level fossils are cleaned to off the top of my head is a royal pain, so it's easiest just to use what I end up getting. And I've been playing this game for way too long.**

 **If you're enjoying the story so far make sure to throw down a comment, comments are always beautiful and amazing creatures that are hard to find for authors like myself, but it's magical when they happen. Kind of like meeting a unicorn.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _ **Don't Mess With A Rose**_

Coming back and talking to Beth had been an awkward encounter to say the least. The two had just looked at each other before Beth decided it wasn't worth her time to worry about Bea and she'd gone back to how she acted before. Kind and sassy until angered otherwise. That was a relief for the red headed fighter all things considered. Beth, for a plethora of reasons, didn't seem like the kind of person you'd want to piss off. A boat to Greenhorn Plains was called and normalcy was resumed.

Upon getting there, Blaze found Greenhorn Plains to be rather unimpressive. It lived up to its name, just being a wide open plain of green set for beginners. Stepping off the boat he looked around, his eyes quickly landing on Holt.

"Hey, Blaze. Good to see you again," the boy had said with a kind enough smile. Blaze returned it tenfold, he could feel Zephyr sighing. "I'm just on my way to clean some new fossils, but there's something I got to tell you. There's a well-known organization of fighters. These fighters are known as the Bone Snatchers. I know, dorkiest name ever. They go around waiting for fighters to dig up valuable rocks like rare fossils or gem fossils. When they find a fighter who finds such they'll often starts a fight with them. Each dig site has a group of them. People who steal medals and various other criminals have been known to be focal points of the organization. The worst part is, sometimes completely normal looking fighters can be members of the group. I've even heard that they've started making branch groups," Holt said. Slowly he started to trail off into gossip.

"The point?" Blaze asked. He managed to steal the words right out of Zephyr's head.

"Right, right. The point is they're really strong fighters who'll try to rob you of valuable fossils. So be careful of them. There can be some pretty nasty repercussions to losing or getting tricked. Just make sure to watch your back out there," Holt finished. Blaze thought for a moment. The idea of the Bone Snatchers, no matter how childish their name, raise some questions. If the information Holt gave was accurate, then people who stole medals might just be a part of the organization, meaning whoever decided to steal from Bea's medal might be a member of the organization as well.

"Holt, while I appreciate your warning I can't really heed it. I have some, reasons, to want to fight these people if my hunch is correct," the red head reacted with a bitter sweet kind of smile. "I appreciate the warning greatly though, at least I'll know to be cautious with them from now on!"

Holt shrugged, "just don't come crying to me if you get your butt kicked and lose all your medals. "Anyway, I should be heading back. I've got some cool new fossils to clean. I'm looking forward to seeing you in more battles, or maybe battling against you again! Good luck. I'm sure I'll see you around again. Stay staff out here." With that Holt headed back towards the dock.

" _Guess we better get digging and cleaning,"_ Zephyr offered up. Blaze could feel the almost over bearing joy coming off the Spinax at the prospect of finding some of these Bone Snatchers and getting the fight them.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

Strength, might, power, and sovereign rule. The beast was a watchful one, cautious of Blaze and even more cautious of his fellow vivosaur. There was a distrust brought about by his death, something he could remember unlike some of the others. Cleaned to 95 he was brought into the world as sharp and as dangerous as when he left it. He seemed to embody leadership like qualities, calming the ferocious storm that was becoming Blaze's vivosaur collection. He was strength; he was the calm and mighty who judged. So, Blaze named the Goyle after Kratos the god of strength, and certainly not the video game character who took on such a solely different image.

The raptor head had been harder to clean than the ones that Blaze had dealt with up until now, though certainly not as hard as they would become later. The large gap in the stone which revealed parts of bone made certain of that. Ever cautious not to hit it, cleaning it was a bit more of a trial that left two long lines of stone where the v had been. In the end the hardness of the skull brought the being to 99 points. And was Blaze ever glad of it. With the V-Raptor came both wisdom and ferocity. It was only fitting to dub her Athena.

The third rock was even harder as it had a giant hole in its center. As luck would have it, it wasn't a head but a body part. A part for Venti. Blaze was careful with it, managing to get to 99 percent. The Shanshan took great pride in her new part, strength surging through her being.

The last rock he hoped desperately was a part for Zephyr. After Venti had been integrated with her new part she became powerful, fierce and strong almost beyond that of Zephyr. Caution took importance over all other things; the rock was cleaned to absolute perfection. Unfortunately, to the displeasure of most of the group, it was Athena who would receive the body part.

Upon the second return to Greenhorn Plain, Blaze came across the issue of not being able to find any fossils, so he moved farther out.

" _Quite unpleasant. I thought we'd at least have uncovered something of interest by now. Even if one of us was already in acquisition of the piece,"_ Athena mused. Her voice was something of a disapproving sigh.

" _I think it's better for Zephyr if we don't find anything until we find a new rock. Best not to get his hopes up and then dash them so quickly,"_ Venti mused. With the addition of her new part she'd become quite the vocal little creature. Braver, one might even say. Zephyr on the other hand was sulking in the mental equivalent of a corner. Whenever Blaze or one of the other vivosaurs tried to approach him they'd be bombarded by powerful gusts of anger and disappointment. Eventually the group had given up and allowed him to sulk.

"He's so bipolar," Blaze muttered to himself quietly in response to the vivosaurs. The other three all responded in agreement, Zephyr just became more bitter.

As the group moved they were met by a strange man guarding a gate. "I'm an employee of the Fossil Center," he said quickly as if Blaze had accused him of being something else. "The area past here is extremely rich with rare and incredible fossils. Fossil Battles are strictly prohibited beyond this point, though. We can't risk damaging the fossils, can we? You'll have to hand over your dino medals if you want to pass through."

" _Never have I seen such a sketchy man with such poor acting skills. He's literally more robotic than a 50 pointer,"_ Athena huffed.

" _I would like to point out the fact that you've never even seen a man besides him and Blaze. We have yet to have the pleasure of meeting anyone on the battle field and you can't really call Beth a man, now can you?"_ Kratos finally spoke up. It was only the second time since he'd been revived. _"Either way, this could be dangerous. But it could also be an invaluable lead to the Bone Snatchers if this is as sketch as Athena believes. I say you leave us."_

" _Leave us!? What if he takes us, you thunder brain?"_ Zephyr suddenly burst into the conversation with a deafening roar. The entire time Blaze was making a show of being confused and pondering it over. At least the man was kind enough to be patient.

" _That's just what we want to happen,"_ Athena suddenly jumped in as well. _"If he takes us and then figures out he can't control us then there will be nothing he can do about it. He'll have to ditch us. Likely he won't go out of his way like what happened to Bea since Blaze is such a new and young fighter."_

" _Agreed. Plus, we vivosaur have ways of defending ourselves. Worse comes to worse we can release ourselves. Of course, only with your permission master,"_ Kratos jumped in.

" _But of course. If any of you feel in danger don't hesitate to yell for me or release yourselves from your medals if at all possible,"_ Blaze responded. "Alright," Blaze said as he began to pull out each medal and hand it over. Athena was last, so she gave Blaze a parting message as well as she could.

" _Only Venti and I will be able to release ourselves since we have two fossil pieces. You won't be able to talk to us this far away and we won't be able to talk to you if we get too far apart, but you'll still be able to feel our emotions if they're strong enough. I think you already know what that feels like,"_ The V-Raptor said. Her tone took on a fondness. She didn't have to say it; Blaze already knew she was telling him to stay safe without them. He quietly wished them luck as he handed them all over and entered the rare dig site.

Blaze walked forward, trigging his sonar a couple different times. No matter how many times he did so it never produced anything other than rocks and trash. "Great, they were right," he said in a quiet mutter.

"Who were right?" A girl, with apparently impeccable hearing, suddenly asked. Blaze turned the direction of the female voice and was met with enough pink to make his eyes bleed. Said girl strode forward, looking Blaze up and down. Quietly she circled him as if trying to decide what to make of him. There was a puzzled look on her face. "I don't think I've seen you before… Are you a rookie? Anyway, good luck with advancing, as well as finding any of these supposed rare fossils. This is so stupid, no other area on the island do they make you leave your dino medals with the staff," the pink haired girl huffed as she slowly devolved into nothing more than angry mutters.

Blaze was about to try and say something when a shock of anger and fear jumped through him. The fear was likely from Venti, as the Shanshan wasn't the fiercest vivosaur on the island even now. On the other hand the anger felt like a combination of Athena and Kratos. Zephyr was worryingly quiet. Blaze bolted back to the entrance of the dig site, his feet pounding against earth like the world was crashing down around him. He skidded to a halt at the fence. Down on the grass he could see a shine.

Bending down he peered at the four medals and breathed out in relief. "Oh thank goodness. You guys gave me a fright," he told the four as he looked them over.

Zephyr huffed quietly, now that they were back in physical contact Blaze could feel the fear starting to leak into his palm. Zephyr had apparently been just as frightened as Venti, if not more so, but he'd put on a brave exterior. Athena was the first to speak up, _"I told you that we'd be too much for him to take. He threw us down the moment he realized it and he bolted!"_

" _The coward took all the other medals though, he had tons,"_ Venti offered. Her voice was the one of sympathy within the group. Her emotions obviously extending an understanding to the poor vivosaurs that were taken. Of course, most were puppets anyway.

"Hey! Wait… Wh-where did he go!?" A voice cried out from behind Blaze. Turning around he stumbled upon the girl with pink hair. Her face was contorted into a glare. Her eyes turned almost steely with rage, which was a bit startling considering the soft and almost playful expression in the Spanish pink orbs when Blaze and the girl had first met. Funny enough her hair seemed to resemble China pink, the rest of her clothes being an assortment of anything from cherry blossom to orchid to the spare threads of hot pink which made up parts of the ensemble. Accents of cyan were here and there, making it more bearable to look at. The disruption from the girl being completely pink made her a lot easier to look at.

She looked around a bit before finally noticing Blaze. "The guy from the Fossil Center who was here before, where did he go? Where are my medals? I know I wasn't the only one to hand my Dino Medals over to that guy, right? We've all been tricked. There wasn't a single rare fossil in that area… All I got was a bunch of garbage that kept messing with my sonar. And then that guy ran off with my medals!" She said. Her face was twisted into a pout. She glanced up at Blaze, only now noticing the medals in his hand. "Wait, you've still got your medals? How'd you manage that? Oh, wait. You're a rookie. Your vivosaurs are still pretty weak. That's why he tossed yours on the ground like that," she said. There was a smile on her face, the pure and blissful kind of look that said she had no clue what she was implying.

" _Weak? Weak! I'll show you weak, I saw your vivosaurs and the only thing strong about them is how strongly they're attacked to damn strings!"_ Zephyr voiced the complaints of the other three vivosaurs, leaving Blaze's head ringing ever so slightly. As much as he would have loved to be mad at the girl in pink, there was something about the innocent way she said it that made him completely forget how to be mad.

She once again began to speak, her tone taking on a vehement anger. "But MY vivosaurs were all really strong! I was ready for my Level-Up Battle! That guy said he worked for the Fossil Center… So I guess that's the place to start. Come on! Let's get to the Fossil Center!"

"Wait, why am I-" Blaze's concerns were quickly lost as the girl took his hand in her own and began to tug. There was little the red head could do against her.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

Wendy was of course the one to greet the pair as they stepped inside the fossil Center. She gave the pair a warm smile. That smile fell when she turned to Blaze. Shaking her head and making a tsking noise as she saw the way the boy was being dragged. "I warned you," she simply said.

Blaze just looked at Wendy, saying absolutely nothing. The girl frowned for a split second before she put on an expression of anger.

"I sure hope you have an explanation for this!" The girl demanded.

"Sorry, miss, but I don't understand. Can I help you with something?" Wendy said. Her expression was beyond baffled and she tried to glance at Blaze for clarification. Before Blaze could even attempt to speak the girl spoke up once more.

"Help me with something? How about getting my Dino Medals that your employee stole form me in Greenhorn Plains," the girl shot back at Wendy.

" _She seriously still thinks he was an employee,"_ Venti asked.

Blaze took it upon himself to give a silent response defending the girl. _"I would too if I didn't know what to look for in bad people. I'm willing to bet she's never met many with ill intent, for people like that it's hard to doubt and when you feel betrayed you fly off the handle quickly. It's kind of like what happened between Sue and Bea. This girl is like Sue."_

Wendy's look of confusion turned even deeper at the girl's accusation. "Greenhorn Plains, you say? Let me check the duty roster. It'll just take a moment." Wendy walked away, but upon returning her face was even more confused than before, if that was even possible. "That's odd… We don't actually have anyone scheduled for duty in Greenhorn Plains today…"

"What do you mean!? Who stole my medals then?" the girl cried. "This is bad. This is very bad! We'll have to go talk to the police! The Police Station is over in the Guild Area, we have to hurry!" She said. She darted off, expecting Blaze to follow.

"Good luck with your tornado," Wendy said with a small snort.

Blaze shook his head. "A bit rude, don't you think?" Was all the boy said before walking off. Wendy looked like someone had just sucker punched her in the face.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

The police station for some reason or another put Blaze on edge. It wasn't like he was a criminal, though he had done some criminal acts in his youth, it was more so the fact something seemed off. "I'm sure Captain Bullwort will be able to help us!" the girl said with a happy expression. Blaze smiled at her slightly and nodded his agreement.

"Is there something wrong?" The officer behind the desk asked.

"Yes, there's something wrong! I need to talk to Captain Bullwort immediately," the girl said with a huff. There was a certain arrogant elegance to the way she spoke, a certain aspect to her demand that drew Blaze's mind to thoughts of a young noble ladies who had yet to find out what reality was. That didn't make her a bad person, by no means did it, but it made her young and perhaps a bit ignorant. It made her someone that needed protecting so that when reality did hit, it only knocked her off her feet and not into 100 foot deep waters effectively leaving her to drown.

"Captain Bullwort should be in the captain's office… as usual. I'm sure he can help you with whatever problems you have," there was something resigned in his tone as if he knew he was talking to a girl equivalent to a princess. That sealed the deal, the girl was rich.

A bright smile ran across her features. "Thank you very much! I'll talk to him," she said. Blaze had known people like her before. Perhaps he should keep an eye on her? If Wendy was anywhere near right then he was certain to get scooped up in her plans anyway.

The pair entered the elevator that led to the Captain's office. Weren't there any stairs in this place? Blaze was starting to get more lethargic just letting the elevators take him everywhere. "Captain! Captain Bullwort!" The girl cried out, snapping Blaze back into the present.

"Aw, what's the matter, young lady? Did someone throw away one of your dolls or something?" The man asked. That line alone was enough to leave a bad taste in Blaze's mouth. Already he disliked this man, to already brush off someone's request as so mundane before they've even had a chance to speak. Even if this man already knew the girl, would it be okay to just brush her to the side like that? The way he said doll also put Blaze on edge, his eyes couldn't help but dart around the room to find something incriminating.

The girl spoke up, a certain tone of indignation in her voice. That meant they didn't know each other, this Bullwort fellow was just a jerk. "Hardly! My Dino Medals have been stolen! My Dino Medals! Without them, do I even count as a Fighter? I need the police to investigate immediately! The criminal could be out there stealing medals right now!" The girl was practically growling. Of course, coming from such a tiny and mostly pink girl people would tend to just discard the idea of her being threatening. Blaze didn't.

Bullwort's expression changed. "Well, that IS serious. Do you remember what the suspect looked like? Do you think they might be a member of the Bone Snatchers?" Bullwort asked. His expression darkened slightly.

The girl paused, a look of confusion momentarily taking root on her face. "Yeah, umm… He had eyes like a lambeosaurus… And his mouth was exactly like an anatotian's!"

Bullwort's face completely fell. "Hmm… Finding this criminal might be tougher than I thought…" Blaze on the other hand was a little impressed. For one, he had to completely agree with the girl, and second, she was spot on with the descriptions.

"But I had 10 Dino Medals! Do you know how long it took me to get them?!" She asked. The expression on her face was one Blaze hadn't seen until now. It wasn't angry as much as it was heartbroken. The girl actually began to cry. Blaze felt a small spark of panic start to rise up, he wanted so badly to reach out and comfort the girl. "I had the perfect team, all ready for my Level-UP Battle!" Once again her expression changed in a matter of moments, tears still lingered in her eyes as her expression turned furious. "I won't stand for this!"

"Now, now," Blaze suddenly cut in before anyone else could say anything. "This isn't over yet. If you suddenly got a bunch of brand-new vivosaurs, you'd want to try them out. So where would you go to do that?"

The girl's eyes lit up. "The Fossil Stadium," she whispered in a quiet voice. A light of understanding seeming to spark quickly followed by a wave of burning anger. "Thank you Captain Bullwort. We'll be going now!" The girl said. She grabbed Blaze's hand before dragging him out of the police station and towards the Fossil Stadium.

Once they were outside the girl paused. "Oh, this is never going to work. I don't have any Medals to fight with myself! How am I supposed to win my own back?" She said. There was a despairing look on her face that caused Blaze to speak up.

"I'll fight for you," he said. He knew he'd be able to win too.

"You would!?" The girl asked. Her eyes completely lit up before once again dimming as she seemed to realize something. "I'm sorry… I've been dragging you all over the island and demanding you help me without even telling you my name. Now here you are saying you're willing to help and I haven't even thanked you once. I'm Rosie. Thank you so much for helping me out, there's really no way to repay you," she said, casting her eyes downwards.

"Rosie. Interesting, I suppose it makes sense, considering the Spanish word for pink is Rosado and a pretty girl would need a very pretty name," Blaze paused for a moment to let Rosie absorb his observation. Something told him that her personality tended to rub people the wrong way. Maybe because of that people weren't always so willing to be around her. Considering how shocked she looked at a single compliment, his observation was likely correct. He continued, not giving her the chance to say anything in response. "My name is Blaze. It's a pleasure to meet you Rosie! Let's go get your Dino Medals back," he said. His expression was gentle and warm.

Rosie smiled at him, a slightly pink coloring coming to her cheeks now as well. He could see that his compliment had an effect; her expression was practically glowing with how joyful and prideful it was. "Yeah, let's," she said. Her voice had become a lot softer as if she was scared she was going to break whatever spell was cast if she spoke too loudly. He smirked, taking her hand and quickly leading her in the direction of the Fossil Stadium.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

The pair entered the Fossil Stadium, eyes directed towards Tiffany. The smile which started to grace her features was expectant, hopeful, and excited. "Are you here to compete in a Fossil Battle," she asked. Blaze nodded and her grin seemed only to widen. "May I please see your Fighter's License?" Blaze handed it over only to have it quickly handed right back. "Sorry Blaze, protocol. When you're ready, please head through the door on your right to the Battle Area. You'll meet another level one," she said. Blaze nodded. "Make sure you come back later today for your level up!" Tiffany laughed.

Blaze and Rosie both entered the battle area, Rosie trailing behind Blaze slightly. The door opened and a look of pure rage crossed Rosie's features. "That guy has MY vivosaurs! The rat! But don't worry—those vivosaurs aren't my best ones. You should be able to win easily! If you don't win, we can't catch the thief. So pretty please kick his butt!"

Blaze just laughed at the expression of the girl, waving her off slightly. "Don't worry. Zephyr, Venti, and Athena won't have any troubles," he smirked as he pulled the trio of medals to attention. Zephyr's medal was hot, practically vibrating with his excitement. Athena's was cold to the touch, analyzing the situation before his enemy had even send out his medals. Venti wasn't sure what to do, so her medal was the same as always.

" _It looks like he's going to be using another V-Raptor and Spinax. Both are level one, poorly cleaned at best. The girl wasn't kidding when she called them her weakest!"_ Athena huffed quietly. By the tone of her voice, she wasn't taking them as a serious challenge. Zephyr luckily was.

"Let's get this battle started!" Blaze called out. Both fighters pulled out their medals and let them fly across the battle field. The thief, having less health went first. His V-Raptor was the first to lash out. The veloci-claw landed a hit on Zephyr, but the beast didn't even flinch. The creature barely did any damage. "How about trading him back a hit, ey Zeph?" Blaze called. A dangerous kind of amusement flickered in his eyes as Zephyr charged forward. His speed was nothing that one might have expected from a Spinax, his large body causing him no slowing effects. He slammed forward, massive jaws scoring a hit on the V-Raptor. It wasn't down, but it looked fatigued. Its body moved slowly as it stumbled.

"Another veloci-claw! Spinax, you get in too!" The enemy fighter called out. Teaming up on his poor Spinax? How dirty, but Zephyr just gave a reptilian smile at the pair. If they had any mind of their own then they might have felt the fear such a look could give. But as the situation stood, both were little more than puppets and advanced on Zephyr without thinking. Both hits landed, but the vivosaur living up to his name as a wind god just took the attacks in stride.

"Hit hard and fall back!" Blaze told the Spinax who was more than happy to comply. Once again he slammed his jaws down on the V-Raptor, this time causing its demise. Before the enemy Spinax could get a chance to retaliate against Zephyr, Zephyr was retreating behind Athena. The V-Raptor in question gave a feral cry as she raked her claws down the side of the enemy Spinax. It didn't do as much damage as Blaze was hoping, leaving Athena open to the return of the Spinax.

Athena reacted well to the return attack, bouncing back quick enough and landing another hit on the enemy Spinax. Blaze felt a large amount of energy leave his body at the attack given by the V-Raptor. Athena stuck out twice and the Spinax wailed in pain. "Toxic Combo," Blaze whispered under his breath seeing the sickly green of the wound. Athena almost seemed to smile.

The Spinax moved slowly, not managing to land his hit on Athena as he once more screamed in pain. He was barely hanging on, almost to the point of not being able to stand. The V-Raptor's mind went out to her companion. _"Venti, if you would?"_ Athena smirked as she asked.

Venti nodded, silently switching places with the V-Raptor. The Shanshan smiled, effectively letting the enemy Spinax know he was screwed. Leaning forward she snapped her jaws twice before smashing the creature with her legs. "Shanshan Combo too! So level three is when they learn a second move. Or is it because they have a second part?" Blaze quietly observed the pair.

His body felt light, the three vivosaurs returning to medals which leapt into his outstretched hand. Blaze returned to the entrance, his feet dragging slightly. He understood that his vivosaurs wanted to show off their new moves, but they'd majorly drained him in the process.

"Yay!" Rosie cheered. "You did it Blaze!" Her attention then turned to their enemy. Blaze watched the encounter through clouded eyes. "I'll take MY Vivosaurs back now, thank you very much!"

The boy looked taken aback. "Whoa, whoa. Hold up. I bought theses Dino Medals with my own money. Why do you think they're yours?"

Rosie paused, seeming a little conflicted and a lot confused. "You bought them? Are you sure you didn't steal them from me?"

The boy seemed just as confused as Rosie now was. "Steal them? No, of course not! What's going on here?"

Rosie seemed to deflate slightly. "The vivosaurs you were just battling with are the very ones that were stolen from me in Greenhorn Plains! Who did you buy those Dino Medals from?"

The boy seemed to panic at this, realizing what was going on. "I bought them from a fellow named Medal-Dealer Joe. Can't miss him—he's got eyes like a lambeosaurus."

"That's the guy! He calls himself Medal-Dealer Joe, huh? Do you know where to find him?" Rosie said. Her eyes took on a certain sharpness as did her voice.

"I don't know where he is right now, but I first heard about him at the Fossil Guild." The boy said sheepishly. "Here, I better give these back to you though. I never would have bought them if I thought they were stolen property," the boy said. Rosie retrieved her medals but something stuck with Blaze. Property, the word sent chills up his spine. That explains how the boy could buy the medals. He thought they were just property. Not living, breathing friends. "And something will have to be done about that con man Medal-Dealer Joe. I'll go talk to the police." The boy finished.

Before he left Blaze grabbed his shoulder. "You might want to rethink your opinion on Vivosaurs," was all he said before turning to Rosie.

"Okay, Blaze! Let's get over to the Fossil Guild." She cheered. There was a look of pure joy on her face as she cradled her medals.

"Okay, just, can we walk slowly? I'm awful tired…" Blaze said. He was trying his hardest to suck in breath, but it seemed to evade him. It was almost like a weaker version of getting the wind knocked out of him. He'd been through worse before, but he could cope because he expected it. This sudden fatigue had in no way been expected. Rosie looked confused, but she nodded anyway.

" _Are you okay? I surely hope we didn't drain you too much,"_ Athena said. Her voice echoed with worry. The rest were trying to be quiet, seeing as how fatigued Blaze was after the battle. For that, he had to be grateful to them.

" _I'll admit I'm not used to it. Maybe try not to use combos too much in battle? Or save them for really important and really hard battles? At least for the time being while I learn to deal with the after effect. I'm sure eventually it won't be too much trouble. But for now…"_ Blaze said, his voice sounding slow even in his own head. All the vivosaurs seemed to agree, their worry was almost palpable.

Blaze looked up, turning to Rosie slightly. Out of nowhere they were in the fossil guild and Rosie was talking to some man. She turned back to Blaze. "Yes! I can finally get back the rest of my Dino Medals! We just have to go to Greenhorn Plains and destroy this man!" There was an almost dangerous flicker in her eyes, something that was without a doubt malicious. Blaze was taken aback by how the world had jumped settings without his permission, but he continued to go along with Rosie's dragging.

The two walked to the docks, Blaze finally starting the shake off the cloud inside of his head. To Greenhorn Plains it was.

 **(-)(-)(-)(-)**

 **Chapter four is down! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. The Bone Snatchers are my version of why everyone and their mother try to fight you whenever you dig up a jewel rock; they also made a convenient characterization plot point! I didn't intend for their abbreviation to be BS, but looking at what I have in store it kind of works.**

 **As always, if you enjoyed or even if you didn't a comment is always appreciate. It help poor writers like me grow.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

 _ **Medal Stealers and Leveling Up**_

Rosie's anger as almost palpable as the pair stepped off of the boat and entered the Greenhorn Plains. "Alright Blaze, you're going to have to battle this guy since he still has my good dino medals. Let's make sure he regrets messing with us," the girl said with a less than friendly grin, the expression was almost hungry in a way. Blaze just smirked and nodded his head. His sister pulled off scary far better. As much as the pinkette was trying to be intimidating, Blaze was the last person you'd be able to intimidate. Though to some random medal thief the expression on her face could very well be horrifying.

He gave a salute none the less and chirped out an almost militant "yes ma'am!" which seemed to satisfy Rosie's bloodlust… for the time being. Together the pair moved forward, not even bothering to try and ping their sonars. There was something far more important to focus on. Finally the two got to the wooden fence that Joe had originally been standing at. A little ways past, sitting under a tree and picking through medals, the thief in question could be seen. "There he is, we have to be careful Rose-" before Blaze could finish the girl was already marching forward. "Rosie!" Blaze snapped in as hushed a voice as he could manage. The girl wasn't even fazed, simply moving forward with a proud and elegant stride. Blaze was forced to follow, forsaking the element of surprise in exchange for a guarantee of Rosie's safety.

"Gotcha, Medal-Dealer Joe! Or should I say… Medal-Stealer Joe!" The girl said a, fire blazing clearly in her eyes. Both Blaze and the medal stealer looked at the girl blankly.

"When this is over, I'm teaching you the proper etiquette of sick burns," Blaze said.

"Shut up!" She girl snapped in return, her features turning a bubblegum shade. She turned back to Joe. "You should have known I would find you! Now hand over my Dino Medals!" Her voice came out as a dangerous hiss, but Joe just laughed without taking the threat seriously. He grabbed his shirt, easily ripping it off. In the fastest clothing change Blaze had ever seen, Joe went from average employee to just straight up weird.

The man wore a dark purple tank top; long leather gloves stained red decorated his hands. To complete the look he wore blue pants which slowly became larger and baggier the farther they got down his legs until tightening back up at the ankles, almost like the kind of pants a belly dancer might wear. Wait, wasn't that style of pants called harem pants? There was something ironic, wrong, and amusing in that all at the same time. The pants instead of ending in feet like a belly dancer's might have ended instead with thick leather boots. The most notable thing was how outrageous the man's hair was. Blaze's was spikey, but Joe's hair was actually standing!

"What, these medals here? They're mine, fair and square. I guess the only way to settle this is a Fossil Battle. Beat me, and I'll give them back to you! Though fair warning. We Bone Snatchers don't play nice!" The man said. His eyes were slitted dangerously, the pupils sizing up both Rosie and Blaze as if they were prey. He has sight, that wasn't deniable, but the question was if he had vision to go along with it. This might turn out to be an interesting battle.

"Hear that, Blaze? He's all yours! Get him!" Rosie said, cheering in a way that was obviously supposed to encourage Blaze. There was a sudden crimson to her cheeks. "I'm sorry I can't help, he still has all of my good medals…"

Blaze nodded, pulling off Rosie's hat and ruffling the hair underneath slightly. "Don't worry, they'll be back in your possession soon," he said before gently tugging her out of the way of Joe and pulling out his own vivosaurs.

Joe smirked down at what he assumed was a stupid child. "Bring it," he growled before pulling out Rosie's vivosaurs.

Athena's attention was drawn to the three medals. _"A Shanshan, Goyo, and Metria. We haven't seen a Metria yet so be careful. Besides that they're all relatively weak. Let me take AZ, Zephyr can pull in and tank if we need him to,"_ the V-Raptor reported.

"Don't get over confident," the boy mumbled under his breath as the three vivosaurs were thrown to the battle field. Blaze took the advice of his V-Raptor, throwing out his own vivosaurs to fight.

Of course the medal stealer took the first attack. "Rock Head Goyo, Shanshan follow up with a Shan Fang!" The medal stealer called out. Athena braced herself as the two attacks hit, one after the other. There was a dangerous glint in her eye, the pupil slitting as the yellows watched, analyzing. She tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Strike as you will," Blaze told the V-Raptor. He could practically feel her smirking. The Veloci-Claw struck hard and fast, knocking the Goyo down a peg or two. It was still standing though. Before Blaze could even issue the order, Venti charge forth with a ferocious screech. Her fangs sunk deep into the body of the Goyo, it evaporated into a blast of light. Just like that, their first enemy was down.

Metria took the front position, continuing an assault against Athena. The strange thing was that Blaze didn't hear a single word, the Medal Stealer just smiled at him. There was suddenly a throbbing pain in his ears, kind of like metal ramming against metal. "Two can play at this game," he said with a large sweep of his hand. "Thanks to the poor cleaning job your little friend did they're a bit harder to control, they can't do much more than basic commands, but they still understand well enough!" Joe said with a laugh. At the sweep of his hand Metria charged forth, a Green Fang slamming into Athena, Shanshan quickly following up on that onslaught. The Green Fang did more damage than Blaze was anticipating. The V-Raptor was breathing heavy, her health nearly spent.

"Athena! Swap with Zephyr!" Blaze called out but was quickly silenced.

" _No! I know that my combo move can take out this Metria. Then the Shanshan won't stand a chance! Even if I can't take him out, if I return to my medal it will have been worth the hit! Just trust me, I know what to do,"_ there was something urgent in Athena's tone, something that said she knew exactly what she was doing. Blaze went silent, weighing the words of his vivosaur's request. _Please!_ Athena pleaded, a growl rumbled in her throat as she glared down her foe.

"Fine," Blaze said with a melancholy resignation. Athena lashed out with Toxic Combo, slamming her body down against the Metria. No one on the team was sure what played into it. Fate, luck, or Athena's raw strength. It didn't matter though, in the end she hit the perfect spot and the Metria was down for the count. "You ready to swap back now?" Blaze shouted. The V-Raptor nodded her breathing still heavy, though her exhilaration was obvious. If vivosaurs could smile, her face would be splitting in half by now. She moved back, bounding away from the battle and to Blaze's side while Zephyr replaced her position on the battle field.

Joe's face turned bright red. "Damn it! This is the fault of these stupid weak vivosaurs! Doesn't that girl know how to clean? I thought these were her strongest ones!" Joe snapped and cursed. "Shanshan, put all your strength into this next attack! Make it count!" He roared angrily. Zephyr smirked as the Shanshan charged him. He didn't try to move out of the way, instead just taking the attack like a pro. Not as well as Athena mind you, but he was a good deal weaker thanks to lacking a fossil that she had.

"Return it," Blaze simply commanded. The vivosaur smiled, its fangs connecting with the body of the Shanshan. Zephyr crushed down with all of his might as his teeth sunk into the flesh of the Shanshan. With a violent shake of his head the smaller creature was pulled this way and that, Zephyr seeming to revel in every moment of the combat. Venti who was sitting on the side lines couldn't help but cringe, her expression becoming slightly pained. It was natural that she'd feel empathy for the other Shanshan. Zephyr had no such reservations and he quickly brought the battle to a glorious end.

"You did it, Blaze! You're amazing!" Rosie cheered as Joe stumbled back. She turned to Joe, a sour expression painting her features. "Hmpf. I'll take my Dino Medals back now, you big creep!"

"Damn it!" Joe screamed as Rosie snatched her medals. "You haven't seen the last of me! You'd better watch out, 'cause I'll get you again!" He darted off.

"Actually, I believe they have," a strong voice said. "You're under arrest."

"Noooo!" The medal stealer cried out as a familiar face placed cuffs around his wrists.

"Bullwort?" Rosie questioned, her expression becoming perplexed. Blaze was just as confused, though he was also a little upset, huffing slightly.

"Well at least this stays in line with my current assessment of him. Hanging back until someone else takes care of the dirty work!" Blaze's voice was a quiet growl, not more than a mumble, as to avoid the approaching man hearing him. Rosie tilted her head in confusion, picking up on his words. Judging by her expression she didn't necessarily agree, but that didn't matter right now.

"We couldn't have caught the thief without you two. My sincerest thanks!" He wore a kind enough smile all things considered, but Blaze didn't necessarily trust the look. There was something off about the way he acted and spoke, like there was a disconnect between his words and thoughts and he didn't know how to hide it very well. Bad acting one might say. Level-Up Battles are starting soon, by the way. I hope you're both planning to try for your next level. Away, thank you again. Over and out." Bullwort told the pair before taking his leave.

"Wait! Before you go, I want to ask the Medal Stealer something," Blaze said. Bullwort looked at him for a moment, seemingly sizing him up, before giving a nod. For just a moment there was something cold in his eyes.

"Do as you will," he said with a small nod.

Blaze turned to the Joe, his eyes far darker and more dangerous than they had been during the battle. "Alright. I've got one question, and I want a straight answer," he leaned forward, summoning whatever terrifying influence his sister had left in his blood. "Do you know about Bea and if you do where is her medal." He growled in a very quiet voice. Thanks to the way he was positioned and Rosie taking the chance to 'chat' with Bullwort only Joe saw the expression. Joe's body instantly tensed up and his eyes turned to dinner plates.

"I don't know anything about where her medal is! All I know is that our leader stole it and he's not telling anyone. If you want to know so badly you can track him down. If you beat him then he'll grant you one wish on top of turning himself in!" Joe sputtered out quickly.

"Thank you very much," Blaze said his expression once again turning chipper. "Alright Bullwort, that's all I needed to know! Thank you very much," He said to the police officer. Bullwort nodded and took the man away.

Rosie turned a Blaze, a bright look in her eyes. "Did you hear that earlier? Level-Up Battles! And now I have my medals back! If we pass we get to advance to the next level of fighter and go to a new dig site! You're going to sign up, right? Let's root for each other!"

"Deal," The boy said with a laugh.

Rosie turned away, about to leave, before she turned to Blaze one more time. "And, Blaze, thanks for helping me get my medals back. See ya!" She darted off quickly, giggling slightly.

Blaze sighed as he watched her go.

" _Off to the battles?"_ Zephyr questioned.

"Soon enough," Blaze said. "I want to try and find something first.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

"There you are! It's about time. Ten more minutes and you would have been too late to take your level-up today," Tiffany said as a certain red head finally appeared. "Be more considerate of the time!"

"Sorry, got a little caught up trying to find something. Got into some battles than I was expecting to. Might have or might not have wiped the floor with a certain breed of person. But I'm here now and I'm ready to go. More than ready!" Blaze said with a giant smile. To the observant, it was more than obvious just who the boy had ended up fighting.

"License," she just said with a sigh, taking it and instantly handing it back just like earlier in the day. "So here's the deal. When you first start a level up battle you first have to take a cleaning test. Master fighters are expected to be good at cleaning fossils; it's a vital part of being a fossil fighter. It also provides valuable information on the fighters on the island; Diggins often uses the information to study and gets in touch with fighters who score high. If you pass the cleaning test you get to move on to the Fossil Battle portion of the test. Depending on your level, this portion of the test may involve multiple battles or strange rules and handicaps. In later levels you might have a time limit or other challenges to face. First, your cleaning test. Whenever you're ready head through the door to your right," she said. There was something expectant in her features like she wanted Blaze to finish with this part already and get on to the battle.

Blaze happily obliged her, completely annihilating his cleaning test in a short time. Fortune apparently favored the bold as he managed a 98 while roughly hitting as quickly as possible. He wanted to get on with the fight just as much as Tiffany wanted him to, so he wasn't trying that hard as long as he kept to his average.

"Good job," Tiffany said as he approached once more. "Next is the battle! You'll be fighting with a Level 1 Master. You will officially level up if you can defeat your opponent. When you're ready, go on through the door to your right and enter the Battle Area."

Blaze, more than ready, dashed towards the door. To his surprise he came face to face with someone familiar. He tilted his head to the side, taking in her features. Confusion crossed his own.

"Hey Blaze!" Wendy said with a kind smile. "I'm the Level 1 Master, and for today I'm your opponent. I'll be testing you to see if you qualify for Level 2. I have no doubt that you do, but I'm not going to take it easy on you. So hit me with only your best shot!"

Together the two entered the fossil stadium to a roar of cheers. There were more people than there had been for his very first fight in the stadium, but it was still a relatively low number. Then again it was also pretty late into the night by now. Blaze in the background could hear the telling shouts of Tiffany, crying out his name. Of course Wendy shot her a glare only for the woman to respond by sticking her tongue out. Blaze noticed something odd when he looked towards the stands. Up in the front row was the bobbing of something pink as it craned about, trying to get the best view. "Rosie…" Blaze muttered.

" _Guess she really took a shine to you. I'm not shocked,"_ Zephyr said. There was something smug in his voice, like a teasing kind of amusement, but Blaze ignored the vivosaur's tone and only responded to the words, nodding quietly.

"Oh, right, Zeph, you're taking lead," Blaze said, a smile growing on his own features.

" _But of course,"_ the vivosaur replied as he was released from his medal.

The second both teams were released Wendy's V-Raptor lunged at Zephyr with all the ferocious speed of a wild animal, the command barely having the time to fly from Wendy's mouth. It wasn't the speed of an intelligent vivosaurs as much as it was the speed of one that was trained. The Toxic Combo landed, leaving Zephyr sick with the poisons. "Don't let that stop you!" Blaze called out. Zephyr nodded. "You know what to do!" The Spinax returned the hit leaving the V-Raptor far weaker than it was before. The creature shook, quietly glaring down Zephyr. The strength of the hit was thanks to the hours the team had spent finding Zephyr another fossil piece.

Wendy grimaced forcing V-Raptor backwards and into the defense position. Another hit and it would be down, and apparently, she thought it too valuable to lose. "Rock Head and Shan Fang," she called out to her Goyo and Shanshan. The Goyo went for Venti while the Shanshan lunged at Zephyr. Both took the hits well though they hit hard enough to stagger the pair. After the hits landed the two vivosaurs looked at each other and smirked.

" _You two thinking what I'm thinking?"_ Zephyr asked. The questioned was directed at both Venti and Blaze.

"Venti! Zephyr! Take out the Goyo!" Blaze roared, thinking exactly what his vivosaurs was thinking. A small draconian smirk grew on Venti's face, the dangerous kind that was scary to see on the expression of a creature the whole team regarded as 'sweet'. Two bites from the large reptiles and the hard headed beast was nothing more than a medal on the ground. The Shanshan on the other team roared out fiercely, lashing out at Blaze's. Venti stumbled but still stayed strong. A deep growl rumbled up from the depths of her body as she parted her jaws in an audible snarl.

" _Take it out, I'll handle the V-Raptor once it comes back,"_ Venti told Zephyr who nodded his agreement. Zephyr charged the enemy Shanshan leaping into the air before landing on its back. To end the attack, he roared and snapped down, thrusting his fangs deeply into soft flesh that yielded with little resistance. The Shanshan cried out, pain twisted its snout before in a burst of light it turned to a medal. The V-Raptor gave an indignant screech. It had more personality than the rest of Wendy's team combined. Unfortunately, that personality was its downfall as the moment it jumped at Zephyr, Venti was there to intercept it. She slammed the small creature against the earth and it quickly follow the rest of its team.

Wendy sighed, moving to recollect her medals. "You all tried well," she told them after gathering them up. Not that they understood. It wasn't within poorly cleaned vivosaurs to understand, and Wendy knew that. She knew she wasn't as strong as some of the other staff, that it would be a long time before any of her vivosaurs understood her. A small frown slipped onto her face, but she hid it easily.

Both fighters left the arena and met outside in front of the front desk. "Well done Blaze, you defeated a Level 1 Master. I hereby certify you for Level 2. I wish I could say I was shocked about my loss, but I saw it coming. I'm more impressed by your fighting. Your vivosaurs respond amazingly well to you! Although, I have one piece of advice for you. There's a collection of journals on the bookshelf over there. You might find some useful tips about level up battles if you felt so inclined. For today though, just feel free to bask in your victory. You really earned it! Good luck on becoming a Master Fighter one day," with that Wendy excused herself.

A familiar blob of pink darted forward, quickly replacing the woman. "You leveled up already?! Wow, Blaze! I failed pretty badly on my cleaning test. When I finally passed, I got crushed in my Fossil Battle. I was just about to try again when I saw your battle come up. I just had to watch! I'll be trying again soon after this, since Tiffany is willing to extend the entrance date and one of the Masters is willing to stay behind," Rosie announced. "But first, let me introduce you to my grandfather. He's a really important man."

Blaze instantly recognized the old man standing before him. Rosie's personality instantly made sense. He tried to do his best analyzing the nature of the old man Rosie had called her grandfather. Was he a kind old man, or was he malicious and greedy? "How do you do, Blaze? I'm Mr. Richmond. I heard about the incident with the Medal Dealer. I appreciate you looking after my granddaughter. Thank you. I hope you and Rosetta will be good friends. You two seem to work well together. Come by and visit me whenever you'd like, by the way. I'm in the Richmond Building over the Guild Area. That being said, also feel free to come and visit Rosie. She could use the company," the man said with a jolly laugh.

Rosie, whose full name was apparently Rosette, turned a shade of pink that easily rivaled her entire ensemble. She bid her grandfather a quick goodbye before dashing off to try and attack her fossil battle once more. "Rosette… damn. That's even prettier…" The boy trailed off. Shaking his head. He should go back to his hotel room. He needed sleep.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

"So, let me get this straight. You failed a second time and they told you to get out because it was getting too late? And you need to pass the test tomorrow or else they're not going to let you advance?" Blaze parroted, giving the pink haired girl a completely blank look. He had truly been rendered speechless by this. He could understand why. Apparently, Joe had added some new fossils to Rosie's vivosaurs, leading to none of them wanting to listen to her, but wasn't this a little ridiculous? The actions of the fossil officials he meant, not Rosie. Rosie had done nothing wrong other than fall for a silly trap just like a bunch of other people. Himself included if you looked at his actions and not his thought process in going with the trick. The least they could do was offer some new fossils to Rosie or something along those lines. In a way, it was their fault. And poor Rosie was being punished for what a criminal had done to her vivosaurs. It was already starting to remind him of Bea…

Rosie had her head down, fighting back the urge to sob. Despite how strong those urges might or might not have been, her eyes remained dry and her face the picture of determination. She was being very brave and very strong considering the situation she was in. For that, Blaze had to admire her. "I understand if there's nothing to be done, but please Blaze. If you know any way to help me pass then I'll do it! I want to keep moving forward, so please. You're one of the best fossil fighters I've meet so far, and you're the only one I can turn to..." the girl whimpered as she looked at her fellow fossil fighter, eyes pleading and starting to take on a watery shine.

"Okay," Blaze said. Rosie's face seemed to turn into one of shock. Had she honestly not expected him to help willingly? That was sad and it made him wonder about just how this girl was treated normally. "I'll help, but you need to listen to me. No getting side tracked, and no complaining even if I tell you to do something that's going to be hard. Trust me, if you want to do this right then it's going to be hard and you're going to want to give up. But you're going to need to trust that I know what I'm doing." Blaze said.

"Yes! Of course! Anything, I just, I don't want to start losing as soon as I've begun…" Rosie said.

"Alright, then the first thing we're going to need to do is find fossils of everything Joe added to your vivosaurs," Blaze said. It was obvious what needed to be done, and for Rosie, it wasn't going to be fun.

"Why?" Rosie tilted her head to the side, not really understanding how this was going to help.

"Joe used new fossils to make your vivosaurs stronger, not to mention obey him. Right now you're 'too weak' to be considered their master and to them you're not the one who cleaned them. They're smarter than they were before and you're not good enough. Meaning you're going to need to clean fossils at a higher level than her did" Blaze explained. Rosie completely stopped in her tracks. A look of shock painted her features, and that shock quickly dropped into one of total fear.

"What!? He cleaned them into the 70's! The 70's Blaze, I can't beat that. I barely got my strongest up to 60! You know how many times I failed my cleaning test last night. I don't know how to clean better than that." Rosie said, lowering her head into a sulk.

"Then you better start learning fast, or else your vivosaurs are never going to obey you again. Adding to that, you shouldn't keep a vivosaurs that's under 70. They're… not right. It's not fair to them or you. So, unless you'd rather give up, start looking for the fossils we need. I'm going to teach you even if it takes all night," Blaze said.

"Not right?" The girl muttered under her breath in question as she watched Blaze start to fiddle with his sonar. Checking his fossil case, he noticed that he had a couple extra Spinax parts. Zephyr gave a throaty growl, confirming the idea that that popped into Blaze's mind.

"Actually. I don't want to go hunting with you, you can handle that yourself. All I need to do is teach you how to clean a fossil better. Since Spinax bones are nice and hardy we'll start with these and go hunting only if we need to," Blaze said. He quickly led the way, taking Rosie by the wrist.

"What makes you such an expert on cleaning?" Rosie questioned. There was a slight pout in her voice, but Blaze knew that was just because she wanted to take the quick way out of the situation. The quick way was never the good way. If she wanted any chance of making it to the higher levels of being a fighter, then she was going to have to bear with Blaze and learn how to clean her fossils better.

"Hmm. It might be the fact that none of my vivosaur's are cleaned under 90?" The boy said, a grin running across his face. There were a couple different reactions people gave when they heard a statement like that, of course there were differences but they all fell into similar categories. Blaze was interested to see where Rosie would fall.

"What!? I don't believe you!" Rosie said, her face twisting with shock. There was something accusing in her voice, declaring that she didn't believe him. Blaze just laughed. It was going to be hard teaching Rosie to clean fossils better, but Blaze had a feeling it was possible. At least into the 70's!

"Alright, come on, we can't waste any time if we want you to be ready for your battle!" Blaze said, the laughter making his voice light and airy. Rosie just huffed as she was led to the cleaning station, a hammer placed in her hands. The first fossil they attempted to clean ended up broken… It was going to be a long afternoon.

 **(-)(-)(-)(-)**

 **Curse school. Curse work. I haven't had a single chance to write for this story in weeks, not to mention edit! I've had this chapter and the one after it finished for a while now, but I just couldn't find the time to finally finish editing it. And no one wants to see my writing unedited!**

 **If you're enjoying the story make sure to leave a comment and tell me what I'm doing right or doing wrong.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

 _ **The Digadigs**_

Knotwood Forest was a bit more impressive than Greenhorn Plains, but it still didn't hold a candle to some of the dig sites Blaze had heard about. At least it didn't when it came to appearance. It was the secret gems which the forest held that made it amazing. The people who lived in the forest. The Dig-a-Digs. Blaze smiled as the boat came to a stop and he jumped off, his feet touching the Knotwood Forest soil. Large green fir trees sprang up all around him, stretching their limbs towards the sky. Their deep greens mixing with the brown hues of the bark, the lighter green of the grass, and the deep lapis shading of the sky. It was relaxing for the moment he had to enjoy it.

Immediately his attention was drawn to a familiar face. "Oh, hey Holt!" Blaze said. The boy had a bright look on his face despite being completely covered in dirt and dust, a small scrape present on his cheek.

"Oh, hey there! It's you again," Holt said with a laugh. "Heard you took down a medal stealer that was working for the Bone Snatchers. Well done! Oh, but I have something I should tell you. Did you know that the shop finally reopened? The shop is great, you can buy and sell fossils or upgrade your tools. Just have a look at my sonar," Holt said in an excited voice. Blaze leaned forward, peering at the sonar. It was far bigger than his own. "I already upgraded my monitor size. Now I can detect far larger areas! Nice, huh? The best part is that you can dig up and sell fossils you already have as well as jewel rocks. Just be careful, Bone Snatchers like to target jewel rocks. Anyhoo, I'll be heading out to the Center now for a bit of cleaning. See ya around!" Holt bid his farewell before leaving Blaze to his own devices.

" _What's with that glint in your eyes?"_ Venti asked. Her tone was ever so slightly worried.

"Oh, nothing, I've just got a new little goal," Blaze returned in a voice best described as sing-song. His eyes were glinting with a certain kind of flame, the deep dazzling blue orbs of fire shown with a kind of excitement and pride that was hard to put into words. His gaze surveyed the area he was confined to, for the time being anyway, wondering how many fossils he would be able to dig up.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

It had been a couple hours' worth of Blaze hunting, cleaning, and fighting for fossils. The redhead was stained brown from all the cleaning he'd been doing. As he wandered the area pinging his upgraded sonar his attention was drawn to a certain man. "You can't come in here," he told a giant mass of pink. Ah, yes, she'd done her level up battle yesterday after getting some help from Blaze. He'd stuck around to watch and she completely destroyed her competition. All the girl needed was a gentle push it seemed. She managed to get her cleaning average up into the high 70's which was much better for a beginner. Of course, she still needed more practice, but she was more than capable of handling herself now. Except when it came to social interaction apparently.

"Why not?" She asked as she continued to try and push past the attendant. Her voice was shrill, huffy and indignant as if her family's honor had been tarnished by the man who was desperately trying to keep a hold on a situation. She was relentless, trying to slip past as the pair argued. Looked like he had his hands full. Maybe Blaze should just walk away… no, he couldn't do that to some poor innocent man with no Rosie handling knowledge.

"I'm super sorry, but it's my job to warn people that they can't pass. I don't know anything more. My boss was like, "The area's off-limits, so don't let people through," and I was like, "OK, boss." The attendant told her. A pout crossed her features, and that pout began to shift into a scowl that was a little unnerving on the expression of the pinkette. Blaze sighed. That poor man had no idea what was about to happen if he didn't relent, he couldn't sit and watch this anymore.

Blaze approached, already knowing where this was going. "Blaze, you've GOT to hear this! This guy just told me that the area past here is off-limits and that I can't pass," she said the moment she caught sight of him. It took her a moment as his approach was completely silent. His cat-like gait was something so practiced it had become natural. The shock of red atop his head that danced with the sunlight was enough to draw her eyes luckily.

"Yes, I know. I was watching. Why do you think I came over?" The boy said with an expression somewhere between blank, amused, and exasperated. It was an odd combination of a sigh, expressionless eyes, and the slightest twinkle of a smile at the corners of his lips and optics.

Rosie just ignored it. "What could that be about? Is it secret? Dangerous? Both? I really want to know now! You know what, I've had enough of this nonsense!" She announced. Blaze's eyes bulged. Was she actually giving up? Was this a thing she was actually going to do? "We'll get to the bottom of this. Let's go ask my grandfather," she said. Okay. Nope. She's just going up the social ladder till she hits the point that gets her in. The perks of being a rich girl. "Come on, Blaze!" She said with a giant smile. She laughed as she started to walk away. It was a light and sparkly kind of noise, almost like crystal bells and running water. Quickly, before the redhead could react, the girl linked arms with him and started to drag him along. The scent of violets and morning glory quickly invaded his senses. This was the first time he'd actually gotten close enough to the girl to catch a whiff of her perfume.

There was something in her smile that he couldn't quite pin. It was a kind of happiness and joy that hadn't been there when they last met. Of course, it wouldn't have been there when her Vivosaurs were kidnapped. But it was intriguing to watch the happiness play over her features. It was so strange. Especially in comparison to the day before. When Blaze went along with her and started to keep pace her face absolutely lit up with a childish glee. He could see the glinting of ivory white behind her lips and again the crystalline giggle distracted him from even trying to argue with her lead. Off the pair went.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

"Well, well. Rosie and Blaze!" A jolly laugh greeted the pair. Blaze was glad to find out that Mr. Richmond was, in fact, a kind man and it wasn't just for show. "You didn't lose your medals again… did you?" Blaze laughed at the greeting, just shaking his head in a silent no.

"Grandpa, can I ask you something?" She ignored the comment, but Blaze could see the slightest scowl turn down the corners of her mouth, her eyes sharpening slightly in the faintest of glares. "Grandpa, we need to get deeper into Knotwood Forest, but it's off-limits. They won't let us in!" The girl's expression shifted into a pleading kind of look. It was more of an unspoken demand than it was an actual question, but it was a testament to how straightforward Rosie was. Blaze was quickly learning she wasn't the kind of person to beat around the bush. It was a good trait to have all things considered, but that bluntness could easily be her worst flaw in a situation that required tact.

Richmond was already caving at the tiniest push as he quickly tried to think of something to appease his granddaughter. "Knotwood Forest? Why was I thinking about that recently? Oh, I remember! Dr. Diggins said something about it… What was it? You know, you should just talk to Diggins. He seems to know everything happening around here these days." There was a small flash of panic in his eyes as he spoke, almost as if he was too scared to oppose his granddaughter and displease her. All things considered, most people might see the girl as a menace, so Blaze could understand the sentiment. But really, pushing her onto someone else just because you don't know how to say no? The older Richmond gave a shaky smile, the smallest amount of eye contact passing between him and Blaze. The judgment in Blaze's own eyes was thick and unabashed, a very palpable shame started to emanate from the old man. There was a sharp pang in Blaze's chest, he knew what it was like to be so unliked and alone.

"So we should ask Dr. Diggins? I don't know… He looked pretty busy the last time I saw him…" Rosie said with a small frown. Her brow furrowed, and she looked down, none the wiser to the silent exchange. Instead of calculating there was a sorrowful expression in her eyes when she glanced at Blaze for a moment, silently asking him for his opinion on the matter. Perhaps she had noticed. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to notice the sadness in her eyes or not, so he tried to keep his own expression blank. Another wave of sympathy washed over him.

"Hmm, you're right about that. He's usually very busy. But I'll bet he'd make time for you if you bought a gift. Come to think of it, Dr. Diggins has a weakness for Dino Cakes. They sell Dino Cakes at the shop over in the Fossil Guild," Richmond replied with a warm smile, completely wiping away his nervous and shameful and demeanor. Unlike Blaze, he wasn't very observant to the inner workings of his own granddaughter. There was a certain lapse that Blaze could sense, a gap of misunderstanding that had probably given Rosie a good deal of the personality she had now. Certain expectations and her own intelligence being waved off for the nature of an airheaded princess, it painted a clear and rather disturbing picture. When he got the chance, Blaze would need to pay attention to exactly how the girl acted. He needed to take a look at her inner character to be sure, but he was starting to have an unsettled feeling resting in the bottom of his stomach.

"Dino Cakes. Got it! Thank you, grandpa! Okay, Blaze, let's go buy those Dino Cakes and take them to Diggins," Rosie said with a giant smile. Though she put on a look of happiness, there was still something lingering. It was hard to put into words, but Blaze could understand what she was feeling. That quiet lingering darkness that was more uncertain than sad, but none the less disheartening.

The two left Richmond and quickly started off the direction of the Fossil Guild. Rosie's expression remained the same, a mask of joy. But he could see darker thoughts churning slightly. "Rosie?" He asked quietly as the two walked past small areas of green fenced off by foot tall cement walls. Rosie jolted slightly turning to the redhead. His expression was questioning, though he didn't voice any of what he was thinking.

The girl, quietly proving his point, was quick to pick up on the cue. "What's wrong Blaze? Isn't my grandpa great? He always acts like that when I ask for something, it makes it so much easier to get to the bottom of things. If only the attendants could act like grandpa," she said, laughing slightly. It sounded dry and hung in the silent air. Despite the bright blue of the sky and its cloudless nature, there wasn't a single bird, nothing but their voices to break the silence. Rosie's mouth quietly shut her expression turning to fake contemplation.

"Rosie," he said one more time. His voice was hushed and warm, as gentle as he could make it as he took one of Rosie's hands in his own. She completely stalled, which was good since it meant he didn't have to make her stop walking. Her eyes quickly contacted his own before darting downwards. "If there's something bothering you, you can talk to me about it," he said. His voice became a little firmer, chiding but ever gentle. His sister used to take that tone a lot with their youngest and most confidence lacking friend, and it usually worked wonders.

The girl's cheeks flushed, her head ducked down. Her shoulders hunched slightly, and she tried to avoid his gaze, obvious signs of guilty. She looked like the child who got its hand not only caught but stuck in the cookie jar. "I know, but there's not really anything to talk about. My life is completely perfect. I can get anything I want just by asking my grandpa for it, and he'd never say no to me," she was forcing her voice to have a fake joy, but Blaze could hear how heavy it was, as if it hurt to say what she was saying. He could easily pick up on the vibe of distrust that emanated from her. Of course, she didn't know him well enough to tell him anything.

She quickly looked back up, a warm and genuine smile gracing her features. "Thank you, truly," she said. The pinks of her eyes seemed to shine was a distinct joy. "Now come on, let's get those dino cakes and get to Diggins!" She said, her voice filling with a new determination. He couldn't describe it as fire, fire was Blaze's element and as funny as it was to say Rosie seemed a little too ground to be fire. No, she was more reminiscent of the earth, unmoving and able to stand against all, and yet a force that quite literally can move all things. Blaze felt a tug on his hand, Rosie's grip tightening almost fearfully. He would drop it for now.

As they entered the guild the man behind the counter was more than happy to greet them. And take their money. "Welcome to my shop, the one and only! It's your lucky day! Today's special is Vivosaur Island's very own Dino Cakes. Rich and moist—made of the best ingredients. Once these sell out, I don't know when I'll get more. 50g for these puppies is a total bargain!"

"Deal," Blaze said pulling out the required money. Rosie's lips parted slightly as if she'd been about to say something.

"You know, I could have paid," she said. Her expression was perplexed, her brow furrowed slightly as if she couldn't quite understand what just happened. Her voice was a mutter was, laced with hints of shock. "This entire thing was my idea..."

"I know," Blaze said lightly, a small laugh dancing on the tip of his tongue. He watched the shopkeeper rummage around in the back almost desperately. Hopefully, they weren't all out yet. As he kept his attention on the shopkeep in the back of his senses he could hear the confused noises of a Rosie rendered speechless, a true accomplishment. "Is it really that big a shock that I paid?" He asked. If it was then that severely worried him for more reasons than he had the breath to explain. The girl's jaw dropped for a moment and her mouth was just about to form words when the shopkeep came back over.

"What a lucky kid, that was my very last pack of Dino Cakes. They're really popular right now," the shopkeep said. He put the Dino Cakes down into Blaze's outstretched hand and Blaze quickly put it in his pocket. Rosie, finally recovering enough, was the next to speak.

"Whew! That was a close one," Rosie said with a slight laugh. "Anyway, let's take these to Dr. Diggins." There was an uncertainty that she'd taken on in her voice, as if in the last 10 minutes Blaze had been able to completely shatter her reality. Honestly, he very well might have if his suspicions proved correct. And they really were starting to seem like they would.

This debacle was starting to remind Blaze of the incident with Joe, considering how much the pair was running around. He was slowly becoming worried that running around with Rosie would become a common occurrence. But would that really be so bad? She was eccentric, but she also wasn't bad company. Especially not when compared to some of the counsel he kept as a child. Unwilling counsel mind you, but they were still people that he had to spend copious amounts of time with. The thing he did for himself and his sister…

A quick run led them to Diggins' room. Of course, as expected, the man was in total disarray. Papers and machinery cluttered the room, obscuring most of the walling behind sheets of metal and computers. What color even was his floor? There were too many papers to tell, each coated in the same black chicken scratch as the others. "Oh, hello, Blaze, Rosie. Is there something I can help you two with?" The man gave them a kind smile as he spoke, looking at the pair and tilting his head to the side slightly in an action that was reminiscent of a friendly dog waiting to be pet. Yeah. That was a good comparison for Diggins.

Rosie approached the topic first, taking a moment to pick her words before actually speaking. "We're trying to get deeper into Knotwood Forest, but we were told it was off-limits."

Diggins gave pause, his face twisting slightly in a tight scowl. "Deeper into Knotwood? No, I'm afraid that's just not possible right now. There's been an incident in the Digadigamid ruins near Digadig Village. I ordered the area closed. The investigation is being handled by a famous fighter who's on the scene right now. But come to think of it… We haven't gotten word back since yesterday. I hope nothing's happened to her..." His eyes started to become distant and it was obvious he was going to become distracted soon enough. They were losing him!

"In that case, you should send us to check up on that fighter! She might need help!" Rosie quickly said, taking advantage of Diggins' momentary pause. Blaze could see a mirrored panic in her own expression, apparently having realized the man before them wasn't in possession of his longest attention span. Whatever could possibly have him so frazzled, Blaze might have a good guess.

"Oh boy, what should I do? Hmmm. Oh! I'm exhausted. I wonder if I've been working too hard… again. I sure could go for a sweet snack," the professor said, his expression completely perplexed. Upon closer inspection, he was a bit pale and he had bags under his eyes. Poor man.

"Huh? What's this? Could that be a package of delicious Dino Cakes? Wanna split them, Blaze?" Rosie said quickly motioning Blaze to take out the package. That was just cruel and the redhead could feel the slight traces of guilt on his mind, but in the end, it was effective. In all honesty, Blaze was just as curious about the Digadigs as Rosie at this point. So he'd play along.

"Sure thing Rosie, I was starting to get pretty hungry. And hey, I hear these Dino Cakes are amazing! Didn't the shop owner say they were the last pack too?" Blaze said putting on a completely innocent façade. He flinched slightly when a ravenous pair of eyes started to burn into the pair. Rosie seemed to take it a little better, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She allowed her lips to part slightly, white glinting at Blaze while her eyes almost seemed to dance. Devious little thing, Blaze had to admit the smile was infectious and his own expression soon reflected hers.

"D-Dino Cakes?! The shopkeeper said they were all sold out! It was you two who got the last pack! I've been craving sweets so badly! Oh no, I can smell them from here..." Diggins' voice turned in to a desperate whimper as he eyed up the package, now sitting squarely in Rosie's palm. He was undressing the package with his eyes.

"Really? I'm sure we can make some sort of arrangement. Say, you could get us into Knotwood forest, couldn't you? We were trying to get access, weren't we Blaze? Sound fair, Dr. Diggins?" Rosie's smile was pure evil and her eyes almost seemed to blister with their intensity. She was looking right into his soul and his soul was weak. It wouldn't take long for the man to crack.

"I don't know. That doesn't seem like the best idea…" Diggins said. If ever there was a man more conflicted over sweets, Blaze sure hadn't met him. He could hear the pathetic warble in the man's tone, all he needed was a little more pushing and Rosie knew just what spots to jab at.

"That's a shame," Rosie said with a sigh. Ripping open the packaging, she quickly pulled one out. "Oh well, I guess the two of us will just have to eat these. Right Blaze?" She opened her mouth, dangling the cake ever closer as Diggins looked as though he was about to cry. He whimpered and groaned as he watched, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes, the Dino Cake mere centimeters from Rosie's teeth.

A man can only take so much torture before he breaks. "NO! You win! I'll give you a Clearance Card for Knotwood Forest! Now give me the cakes! Dino Cakes! Must have now! Give me the cakes," the man straight up shrieked causing both Blaze and Rosie to flinch. Rosie recomposed herself much faster than Blaze was able to. The noise that erupted from his throat was almost bloodcurdling. It was a savage and primal noise and Blaze could only stand in shock as the once proud doctor almost turned into a savage beast. Drool leaked from the corner of his mouth and his nostrils flared, his eyes bearing into the cake that Rosie was quick to pull away from her mouth and place back into the package.

"Pleasure doing business with you Dr. Diggins. Here are your Dino Cakes," she said handing over the package in one swift movement. There was a look of confidence on her features, the self-assured pride that only came from victory. Blaze couldn't help but notice, the look was somehow tempered. It was proud, yes, but it wasn't gloating. It was the kind of look he often saw on his sister, the look of someone who relished in victory knowing they had fought hard to earn it. His curiosity about the girl spiked in that moment.

"Thank goodness! Just give me one sec," he said. Darting over to his desk he rummaged around a bit before coming back with two cards. "Here. Just show these Clearance Cards to the staff there and they should let you pass. Just do me a favor, stay out of trouble. Don't do anything that might reflect badly on the Center. Especially you, Rosie, anything you do would reflect badly on not just the Center, but also your Grandfather." The pair nodded quietly as Diggins turned back to his work. Before he started, though, he tore into the Dino Cakes. And Blaze's sister used to tell him that people can't resemble Vivosaurs…

Rosie cringed slightly seeing Diggins quite literally tear into the poor innocent cakes like a rabid animal. Better her attention be on that than his comment though. She turned to Blaze quietly. "I think it's time to head back to Knotwood…"

Blaze nodded, the pair carefully shimmying out of the room, leaving Diggins to his massacre.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

"I can't let you go beyond this point. It's officially off-limits," the attendant said once more in a robotic tone. His expression brightened when Blaze flashed his card, Rosie did that same. "Ah, I see you have a clearance card. If Dr. Diggins says it's okay then I have no choice but to let pass. Going beyond this point requires a certain amount of maturity. I'll have to test your maturity level… Are you ready for a battle?"

"Are you kidding me?" Rosie asked, her tone incredulous as her face twisted into a look of disbelief. Blaze just nodded, a smirk growing on his features.

This battle was different the moment the attendant threw out his Vivosaurs. A Venator and an Alectro came out to meet his team. The Venator put Blaze at a disadvantage considering he hadn't gotten the chance to really clean anything new. He was still just working with air types. That wouldn't stop the small party from creaming the attendant, however.

"Good job Blaze!" Rosie cheered, despite being a little insulted by the challenge she'd been eager to watch Blaze fight. "Come on, let's keep going deeper."

"You go on ahead for now. I'd like to get some cleaning and digging done before we go any farther," Blaze said. His mind went back to the beginning of the day. With the shop open he could buy upgrades for his sonar, and by extension, get more parts for his Vivosaurs. If that was the case, then he'd be more than happy to waste a little time collecting enough rocks to buy the sonar upgrades.

"Oh. That's a really good idea. I think I'll do the same," the pinkette said with a small smile. Digging with Blaze, she had no idea what she was in for.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

"How did you even manage to find that many fossils? We've only been cleaning for a couple of hours, and yet you've made so much money selling your duplicates!" Rosie squawked as she glared at Blaze. The boy in question was holding a sonar that had been upgraded to have all but the last piece, the one that would allow Blaze to find all the parts of a Vivosaur. The first part of that upgrade, however, had been acquired last, meaning he hadn't given himself the chance to look for the third parts for the vivosaurs he had. In addition he was waiting for his next case upgrade that would allow him to hold 48 rocks.

"Because I move fast and I'm able to beat down whoever tries to snag fossils or jewel rocks away from me. You, my dear, either keep handing them over because you don't want to fight or losing said fights," Blaze said with a smirk. He'd taken it as a personal challenge to pulverize any Bone Snatcher's that came their way. In part to make a point to them and in part to try and get info on their boss. He hadn't really done much of the latter, but the former he had completely covered. The Bone Snatchers in the area were making it a point to avoid him. Which made it easier on everyone in his team; his vivosaurs were starting to get bored and Rosie finally had the chance to grab some jewel rocks.

Speaking of, "Hey Venti, I'm going to switch you off the reserve spots. Shango needs the experience. You're level 5 and he's only at 3," Blaze told the Shanshan as he removed her from her battle slot. Of course, he had all of his vivosaurs on him at a single time, emphasizing his distrust for the VM, but he kept what he calling his "Team" in a small pouch. The amazing thing was that the two vivosaurs left in the pouch that didn't get to battle would still get experience just like the three that were fighting. The rest which were safely stored in his now not so empty back pack wouldn't get anything from the fights. So far Venti and Kratos were the only ones to be left in his back pack.

" _It's better for us,"_ Venti had said with a small laugh. _"We aren't the best fighters you have."_ Kratos had been in full agreement. They were just relieved they would get to stay in Blaze's backpack instead of the VM. They had just as little trust as he did apparently.

Shango, one of his brand new vivosaurs, was completely enthralled by the idea. _"Hell yeah baby! It's been so unfair that Aja and Hephaestus get so much attention, finally it's my turn!"_ The Nychus had crowed in complete joviality. Aja was a powerful Venator that Blaze had also dug up. She was, as the situation stood their only earth type, making her a good member of the team. Hep, as the others had taken to calling him, was an S-Raptor. Blaze was hesitant to put a tiny vivosaur like Shango on a team with two large vivosaurs like Zephyr and Aja, so Shango took the back seat to the much larger Hephaestus. At the same time Athena was still on the party, ready to take anyone's place should the need arise.

All three of the new vivosaurs were of course named after gods such as Blaze's theming seemed to imply. Shango was a god of storms and fire, apt for the small and energetic Nychus who seemed to wish to tear the world apart. Aja was an African orisha, another word for a divine being, and was considered a spirit of the forest, as well as whatever animals and healers resided within it. Despite her size and abilities as a vivosaur, her nature fit the name well. She'd taken on the motherly role in the group that at one time Athena tried to fill, but had proven herself too apathetic to the concerns of the rest of the group to actually do well. The V-Raptor was just too analytical, her fondness only really extending to Blaze. Finally Hephaestus was a son of Hera and Zeus, he was well known for being the Roman equivalent of Vulcan. Though he presided over volcanoes, fire, the works of a fire god, he also had a strong will over craftsman and artisans, which is exactly what made the name fit the S-Raptor so well. Hephaestus was the worst cleaned vivosaur on the team, only having 93 points on his head, but his 99 point body easily helped him close the difference. Aja had a body cleaned to a similar caliber, but her head was a powerful 98. Finally Shango clocked in at 95 for the head and 96 for the body, making him well rounded if a little lacking when compared to some of the other team members.

All in all, the three new additions added well to the team. Each one was intelligent and willing to add in its strength. That was enough to make Blaze happy.

"Hey, up there," Rosie whispered to Blaze, elbowing him in the side slightly. Where his companion pointed was a pair of very strange looking tribal men. There were few words that could possibly describe these men, Blaze wasn't going to be the one to try.

"Who goes there, digadig?" The first asked.

"Whoa! Blaze, these must be the members of the Digadig tribe!" Rosie gasped.

"No kidding, what gave it away. Now don't make your observations so loudly right in front of them, it's kind of rude," Blaze returned in a hushed voice. There was a slight point to his words, but he knew just how quickly one wrong word between two different kinds of people could send a situation spiraling away into what was best described as disaster. Rosie turned her head downwards slightly, a quick flash of hurt showing in her eyes unbeknownst to Blaze.

"What brings you here, digadig?" The second one asked curiously. Blaze tilted his head slightly, trying to make sense of the dialect. The accent didn't seem like it would be hard to copy and the only thing that really stood out as a part of the language was the digadig part. Would it be rude to try and copy them? Or would they be the kind of people to appreciate that kind of thing.

Before Blaze could win the mental tug of war for either half of his mind, Rosie was already stepping up the plate. "Maybe we should say hello? It might be rude not to." She said, a sharpness to her own voice and a slight narrowing of her eyes accompanied the comment. Before Blaze could respond she was already doing it. Stepping forward the girl cleared her throat. "Greetings, Digadigs! How do you do? We are here to check on a Fossil Fighter who is said to have come you your village." The girl made sure to speak slowly, but in a way that wasn't patronizing like most would have accomplished. She managed to speak clearly and even weave in a touch of the digadig accent. Their eyes seemed to light up, completely understanding her.

" _I guess we shouldn't underestimate her,"_ Zephyr mused.

" _I never did, and I honestly didn't mean to offend. It's just better to be cautious when you don't know everything about a person. It's a lesson I learned the hard way, but then again, did kind of ignore everything I already know about the girl didn't I? So far, let's call me pleasantly surprised and hope she can keep up the diplomat persona,"_ Blaze mentally told the vivosaur as the Digadigs began to speak. Rosie glanced back at Blaze and he allowed his expression to show how impressed he was with her. Her face seemed to light up once more as she turned back to the Digadigs with a confident smirk, his earlier offense seeming to be completely forgotten at the slightest of praise.

"The two of you… You are both Fossil Fighters, digadig?" The digadig asked.

Rosie nodded slightly, "yes, that's right!"

The digadigs quickly began approaching at a rapid and almost worrying rate. Seeming to descend upon Rosie in a desperate manner. "You have come at good time, digadig!"

"We are facing great problem, digadig!"

"We must ask you for help, digadig!"

Blaze could feel himself cringing every time they took another quick step towards the girl. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, it would be so easy for her to lose her cool. It would be easy for many people to lose their cool when strange people got to close to their face. Shockingly enough she only took a step back once and kept her features moderately schooled. There were definitely some nerves in her expression, but she wore a straight face that gave off an aura of confidence.

"A… A problem?" She asked with all too much ease, even going so far as to reclaim the step she'd taken back earlier, moving closer to them. "Of course, leave it to us," she said with a warm smile. Her expression was gentle but determined and she held herself high. "Come on Blaze," she said. The two walked into the camp, following one of the digadigs to the tent of the chief. Rosie walked with a grace that Blaze hadn't seen before, there was an undeniable elegance to her movements and speech, the kind that came with practice and education. If there was one thing Blaze knew about people, it was how many different faces they could have, he would need to remind himself not to doubt Rosie moving forward.

Leaning in close next to her ear he whispered something before the chief actually appeared. "I'm proud of you," the boy said with a slight smirk. Rosie turned a deep pink before brushing it off and glaring at him slightly.

"That better not be you patronizing me. Just because I act like an air head sometimes, doesn't mean I am one. People can be multifaceted," she huffed quietly. She tilted her nose upwards and puffed out her chest. Such a proud little creature, she tilted her head slightly so she could smirk at Blaze. It seemed she'd meant her words mostly in jest.

"Of course, I know you can. I was being honest," he said with a laugh. For all the elegance she had a moment ago she'd taken on a rather childish pout. He laughed a little more and patted the girl on the head slightly. Her cheeks flushed deeply and she turned away. Blaze was about to question the action, but a voice interrupted the pair.

"Hallooo… digadig," a voice declared. Out from the tent came a man in a large red robe. In his hands he held a jeweled staff. "I… am the chieftain of Digadig Village… which is… this place… here, digadig," he enunciated each word as if he was trying to make it easier for the pair to understand. Which Blaze could appreciate, as his accent was the thickest of all without him trying to clean it up. He looked over the pair before continuing, trying to take stock of them. "We are faced with a very, very hard… difficulty… digadig."

"What's wrong?" Rosie asked. How was she not getting frustrated with the millennia the man was taking to speak each word? Such was the patience of a saint and the linguistic understanding of a diplomat, on careful reassessment Rosie really did have the disposition of a princess. Not the kind that was talked about in fairytales, the kind that trained for years to know how to dance and sing and have every talent under the sun, just so they could impress those around them. And Blaze really was starting to become rather impressed.

"The digadigamid, behind our village, is our… sacred place. Many… treasures are hidden inside, digadig. Deep inside the digadigamid we have our treasure… room. The ancestral key to that room was… stolen. Also, the Fighter who came to… help has not come out of the digadigamid for days, digadig. I ask you now, young Fighter boy, young Fighter girl… Will you recover the key and keep our sacred digadigamid… safe? Digadig?" The chief asked.

"We'd be happy to help, Chieftain. But why does it have to be us? Wouldn't one of your people be better?" Rosie asked, voicing her genuine curiosity. The same question was going through Blaze's own head. It seemed like they'd want to protect their own treasure, why rely on two random fighters?

The chief shook his head, a sad look painting his features. "The thieves are able to fight… Fossil Battles… digadig. We digadigs cannot use your Dino Medals. The… only one who could… was my granddaughter, and she left… some time ago in search of… adventure, digadig. We have no way to fighter these thieves digadig. To be honest, these… vivosaurs of yours… scare most of my people, digadig."

Rosie nodded happily. "In that case, leave everything to us! Isn't that right, Blaze?" The boy nodded his affirmation.

"Digadig gratitude is as large as T-Rex with full belly! We will make this task worth your while! Digadig!" The man said with a great laugh.

"Like a reward? Sounds exciting," Rosie said, her eyes glinting slightly. How quickly her attention could be robbed by the thought of treasure.

The chief began to shake his hips repeating digadig over and over again. Curiously, Blaze and Rosie traded cautious looks. The man just seemed to go faster, slowly rising in volume. Suddenly lifting up his arms lightning seemed to shoot from the very sky. Of course, it was Rosie who it hit head on.

"What do you think you're diga-doing! That really hurt! Ohhh… I feel a little diga-dizzy!" The girl groaned, holding a hand to her head. Blaze's hands quickly snapped over his mouth, trying to keep from gaping at what he just witnessed, at what he was hearing. If that wasn't a fairytale bait and switch curse for punishing greed, well, Blaze had never heard a fairytale in his life anyway. Rosie's face became perplexed for a moment. "Huh? What's the diga-deal?"

Her entire face dropped, an understanding seeming to dawn upon her. To hide what Blaze assumed was fear, she resorted to anger. That didn't stop the panic that resonated in her eyes and brought about the slight sheen of tears. "I don't want to say "diga," but I keep diga-doing it anyway! Aagh!" She growled. Her voice cracked slightly and she blinked fiercely, trying to force away the water that was starting to gather in her eyes.

"You are now blessed with… a bond between you and the digadigs. This will bring you eternal joy, digadig," the chieftain said. It was hard to be mad at the guy seeming as he thought he'd done a good thing. That didn't stop Blaze from even becoming a little upset with the situation, sympathizing with his poor friend.

"Eternal joy? How!? How am I supposed to have a d-d-d-DIGA-Discussion without saying "diga"!? I'm going to be bullied for the rest of eternity for this! Grandpa will never trust me with the business if I can't even speak to client properly, I'm going to not only be a laughing stock but I'll end up poor and on the streets. Wah! I might as well say in this village forever!" Rosie said her face switching through various phases of anger, fear, and something in between, before her legs gave out.

"Rosie!" Blaze gasped, barely catching the girl before she collided with the earth. "She worked herself up so much she passed out," he muttered looking at the face of the girl. Her eyes had fluttered shut and her lips were slightly parted. There was a kind of serenity to her features, but at the same time he could seem to feel her distress. Gently running an arm under her legs he picked the girl up and turned to the chief as he continued to prattle on, not understanding what he'd done. His accent now came out in full force, believing he was talking to Rosie who could understand him. Luckily, Blaze had always been good with language and understanding others.

"You are diga-displeased? Forgive me. I only intended to show my thanks for the diga-depths of my heart…" he said. He looked so upset, almost heartbroken himself.

Blaze cleared his throat. "Please excuse my friend's response, digadig. She simple doesn't understand how such a, gift, could prove useful digadig. All it's really diga-done is teacher her the diga-dialect and accent, something that as you can quiet easily see I picked up without needing the gift itself, digadig. However, for her, the accent and the "digadig" part is completely forced on her, making it impossible to hold a conversation with anyone we know back home, digadig. And while it is useful and I'm sure we both appreciate the thought, it could cause serious problems for the future of someone like Rosie if she was forced to say digadig for the rest of her life, digadig," Blaze said carefully moving through his words as he spoke to the chief, trying his best not to insult anyone.

Understanding flickered in the eyes of the man. "Ah. I see. That could cause a problem with those who diga-do not speak the language, digadig. My greatest sorrows, young fighter boy. We will watch over your friend, digadig. If you can still find the kindness in your heart, please do whatever is in your power to recover our ancestral key, digadig," the chieftain said. He looked moderately ashamed of what he'd done, understanding the gravity of the situation. As the situation stood Rosie was in the most likely spot to inherit her grandfather's company. If she did and was stuck saying "digadig" for the rest of her life, clients likely would trust her less and so would perspective business partners. It was bad enough there was a gender barrier to cross, but one of language too? It wouldn't be anything personal; it would just be human nature at its finest.

"Don't worry," Blaze said. "I'll get you back your key." He said, handing off Rosie to one of the digadigs that approached. "You just make sure that my friend is going to be okay.

"Many, many thanks, young Fighter boy, digadig!" The chief said. His eye practically glowed with joy. Blaze nodded passively, his attention mostly staying on the digadig that took Rosie. He watched the man(?) go, holding onto the girl as he entered a tent. Blaze's eyes practically burned all the way there. After he's taken the time to actually help train Rosie he'd seen parts of what kind of person she was, and every new adventure she took him on filled out the smaller facets of her nature. It wouldn't be an overstatement to call her a friend, nor would it be too outlandish for Blaze to say he was fond of her. At heart, she was a good person and a smart one too, even if she was a little manipulative at times. Even that was a good trait depending on how she decided to use it. The most he could say in regard to the negative was that she sometimes allowed herself to be ruled by emotion and for all her intellect didn't fully understand social ques. She was a good person, one in Blaze's eyes who was worth protecting.

That was why he had to protect her. Getting back the key wasn't about the digadigs anymore, it was about making sure he kept those close to him safe, and Rosie was included in that group now. The almost pack mentality that had been so burned into his head by a shared need to survive among those around him as a child, the after effects still trailed his sister and him. The rest of the world could burn, but he would protect his own. Rosie was part of that now. If she was even slightly hurt, the digadigs weren't getting their key back. Diggins and his good impressions be damned, they'd started it.

 **(-)(-)(-)(-)**

 **In all honestly, I found myself genuinely impressed with Rosie during the encounter with the digadigs. When it first happens she shows a great deal of competence and respect that shows promise as a leader. Despite people constantly making her into the butt of jokes and describing her as flitty in an almost one dimensional sense, here she honestly proved to me just how competent she really was. She doesn't actually freak out or get upset until the chieftain goes as far as to, in all senses of the word, curse her with their speech. A lot of people would be tempted to say it's no big deal, but really speech is one of the most important skills we have as human beings. If her speech capabilities were altered or ruined, it's honestly game over for poor Rosie, especially in the position of corporate heiress.**

 **Sorry for that mountain of complains. Those are just my feelings on the situation and a large reason on why I choose to portray Rosie how I do, as well as how I will in the future. I feel like she has and deserves a lot more character than the game tends to give to her. I want to show off what I think are her good traits, the ones that are undermined through the game by playing second fiddle to the protagonist as well as being forced into the box of a cliché.**

 **If you liked the chapter please shoot me a comment as they always make my day and make me want to try a bit harder! Follows and favorite are also greatly appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

 _ **Diga-Damn It!**_

Athena gave a nervous growl. _"Blaze, you know it was just an accident, right?"_ The V-Raptor asked cautiously. Blaze was thrown out of his malicious thoughts in an almost jarring matter. It felt like coming back to some strange kind of reality after getting lost in a dream scape. He blinked slightly, looking down. His feet had walked him all the way over to the entrance of the digadigamid. During this time he had been quietly sulking. His dino medals were all clutched in his hand, they all felt hot to the touch. Part of it was their own worry for their master, and part of it was their master's own anger forcing itself upon them. Zephyr seemed to be struggling under its weight. The Vivosaur Blaze had thought would most readily welcome the anger, was the one fighting the hardest to rip it out of Blaze.

"I'm sorry… Old habit… Bad habit… Bad memories..." The boy said, a wash of shame rushing his as all the anger left his body, leaving him slightly deflated. He'd been so upset with the chieftain, all because of a little mistake. And yet it felt so justified in his head.

" _What do you mean?"_ Zephyr asked, relaxing slightly now that the wave of wrath had started to recede. Worry ebbed in his voice.

"When I was a kid I wasn't a nice person," Blaze started trying to explain. Pausing for a moment, he decided to sit on a nearby tree stump. "My sister, our friends, and I all grew up in a very dog eat dog kind of place. We were all orphans, but not by the choice of our parents. Kidnapees was a much more apt word. My sister and I were the only pair of siblings to be taken. We had to look out for each other, and we had to look out for the others kids we ended up bringing into our family. Since I was the strongest I had to take the role of the protector, the leader, I had to be able to protect others which meant I needed to learn how to attack fast and without remorse. My sister was the strategist in all of it, it was her job to be the calm one and keep me from snapping. The chieftain doing that to Rosie, the situation at least, it brought back a lot of bad memories. And I guess I'm just suffering without my better half telling me not to fight a fight that doesn't need to be fought," Blaze laughed bitterly. "Thanks for bringing me down guys. This might happen again. If you need to, don't be afraid to leave your medals and slap me around for a bit. Other than that, just don't worry about it. The past is in the past," he said simply before standing up from his log.

All the Vivosaurs had gone quiet, leaving Blaze to his thoughts as they approached the temple. Entering the temple, he came face to face with a rather strange man dressed in a combination of blue, purple and white. He looked to have a winter hat on his head, the kind with a pompom top, despite the weather outside being something like summer.

"I've been given strict orders to stop anyone who tries to get into these ruins. Am I going to have to stop you?" The man asked, glaring down and trying to look intimidating.

"Duh," Blaze said, a smirk running across his features. It felt good to be back in a fight that actually needed to be fought. In a situation where he knew how to act...

The man seemed almost to growl as his face contorted into a look of hate. "You asked for it buddy! I'll try to destroy you quickly and painlessly! BB big, BB bang, BB BOOM!" The man screeched at the top of his lungs. Blaze was quick to analyze his party as they were sent out. A Goyo and a Stygi, the Goyo looking a little bit weaker than the Stygi and neither one looking particularly strong.

" _Aja, I want you to sit this one out and leave it to Athena. Okay?"_ Blaze asked. He felt the Vivosaurs quietly agree and Aja's medal was quickly switched with Athena, the V-Raptor coming out to greet their aggressors with Zephyr and Hep. The two raptors seemed to smile at one another.

The Stygi was the first to attack, ramming its head against the body of Zephyr. The Spinax grunted, not taking nearly as much damage as their enemy had hoped. He returned the attack in full and then some, nearly knocking out the Stygi in a single hit. Athena dashed it from the sidelines, raking her claws down the body of the small fire Vivosaur, quickly putting an end to their stronger opponent. That left just the Goyo to defend.

The Goyo was brave, at least it could say that. It lashed out in an attack against Zephyr, smashing its head against the large Spinax's chest just like the Vivosaurs before it. The Goy, however,r didn't survive the first hit.

Taken aback the shady looking man gawked at Blaze, his jaw literally dropping. "Ah, man! You're too much Fossil Fighter for me! BB busted in BB battle! BB bobbity, BB bibbity!" And with that the painfully strange man was gone. As soon as he was gone Blaze heard a ping in his back pocket. The sound of his sonar going off no doubt. Pulling it out he noticed that it was giving off enough noise to imply that something was nearby. "If I'm gonna suffer, might as well make some new friends," he said with a shrug. The boy progressed through the next couple halls, breaking through obstacles and digging up whatever rocks he could find.

At the end of the hall a small pink dog waited, dressed in the same uniform as the strange man. For the first time in a very long time, Blaze was effectively rendered speechless. The redhead tried to slip past the dog which barked and growled, only for the beast to howl and throw out some Vivosaurs. "A fossil fighting dog. I've surely seen everything. Aja, please handle this," Blaze said, switching out the Venator into Zephyr's spot on the party. A deep earthy rumble came from the great terran beast as she glared down the two enemies of theirs.

There was little the Megath, let alone the Nodo, could do against the great rocky monster. Aja's slaughter was merciless. Every now and then Athena or Hep would try to help, but mostly Aja just kept destroying the pair of air elementals. The dog retreated with a deep growl. Blaze could tell that the noise was somewhere between anger and fear. Not much to do except keep pushing forward.

Blaze took a moment of pause, looking over his team momentarily. The assortment of vivosaurs all seemed ready for battle against whatever might be ahead. Blaze had no doubt that things were going to get harder moving forward from here. "Is everyone ready?" He asked after giving the team a moment of pause.

He heard of chorus of affirmative growls and rumbles from his medals. Together the team continued to move forward.

"Heh. Check out the adventurous little Fighter sniffing around other people's business!" A voice crowed from up ahead as Blaze continued moving forward. Up ahead Blaze caught sight of a man with a long nose, blond hair, and bags hanging under his eyes. The dog stood next to him barking at his comment. "No worries. I'll have him stomped into a pancake in about a minute! Heh," the man reassured the dog. Sure you would buddy.

Blaze moved forward, the two finally noticing his presence. "Well, look what we have here. All right, little Fighter. If you knew what you were in for, you'd have turned tail already! Guess I'll just have to show you your big mistake. When I'm done with you, you're going to be more ruined that this Digadigamid!" There was a confident smirk on the man's face as if he thought he was so clever.

He was quick to throw out a relatively unfamiliar Vivosaur. A Carchar. Its partner was a Goyle. Like always, neither one seemed too intelligent. Of course, what else was to be expected of lower class fighters and thieving fools. It made sense they wouldn't be able to clean a fossil properly. Blaze quickly swapped Hep into the main spot, switching him with Aja who was left to play support next to Athena. With a flourish Blaze threw the medals. He couldn't wait to see how this battle would go!

The Carchar leapt forward at Hep, a massive jaw chomping down around his body. Hep grunted, but a smirk almost seemed to play across his reptilian face. He would be more than happy to repay the favor. Before the Carchar could move away from the S-Raptor the attack was repaid in full, Hep's fangs finding ground in the soft flesh closer to the neck. The creature seemed to scream in agony and fall backwards before trying once more to attack Hep. The attack did even less this time, but the S-Raptor was starting to look worn out. It would be best to finish this off quickly. Hep ducked under the body of the Carchar, his fangs sinking deep into the soft underbelly of the creature. With a wretched shriek it dissolved into a medal.

A tired pant from Hep and a slight stager backwards was all it took for Aja to jump forward and grab the Goyle. She picked the beast up, shaking it in her jaws. The slight sting of spikes and the tang of blood filled her mouth, but the second she let go of the smaller creature, smashing it against the ground, the battle was over. Long nose gaped in disbelief at the majesty that was Blaze's crew. The Vivosaurs gave triumphant roars, their cries echoing through the Digadigamid as they turned back into their medals, seemingly jumping into Blaze's outstretched hand.

"WHA - -?! You beat me?! But you're just a kid!" The dog barked, growling and whimpering at his teammate. "I was thinking the same thing. It's time to break out the good stuff - - my surefire knockout punch! You won't believe the special move I've been holding back. Just wait right there for it. Heh." The man slowly started to move away from Blaze. "Here it comes!"

"Wait for just a second," the redhead muttered as he watched long nose.

"Better get ready!"

"He wouldn't…"

"Almost time!"

"Are they really that pathetic?"

"You won't even see it coming!" With a flourish the man turned around, now standing next to the wall. "Yoink!"

Blaze, despite seeing it coming from a mile away, didn't have time to jump away when the floor opened up. He was far too shocked. This was straight up childish.

"No one ever sees that one coming. Heh." The man laughed as Blaze fell.

When Blaze collided with the earth he could feel the world around him spinning. He heard a voice muttering, but it sounded distant. He couldn't make out the words. Slowly he picked himself up, coming face to face with a woman. Her hair was long and red, the same shade as his own, but it seemed more likely hers was dyed than it was natural. Her eyes peaked slightly over the sunglasses that rested on her nose, he could see the faintest traces of dark brown eyeshadow that was a couple shades darker than her sepia-shaded skin tone.

"Good - - you're awake. Guess you're not dead, then." The woman said. If it was supposed to be a joke, then it wasn't funny. Her eyes bore into him, the blues threatening to swallow his own gaze. It felt like she was trying to look into his soul, a sensation that was distantly familiar. "My psychic powers tell me that your name is Blaze and you're a Level 2 Fighter. Am I right?" Blaze was torn between shocked and skeptic, and it showed on his face. She laughed lightly. "Yeah, I can see you don't believe me. I'm just kidding around. You lost your Fighter's License in the fall. Here." The redhead happily took his license back and stowed it in his pocket.

"So then, miss mystery, who are you if you don't mind me asking." Blaze said.

The woman gave a wide smirk before looking Blaze dead in the eye and speaking, an air of confidence surrounded her. "I'm Nevada Montecarlo. I'm a Fighter specializing in expeditions to dangerous locales," she barked. In one swift motion, she brought out a whip and slapped it against the ground. The redhead jumped back, his eyes flashing with terror as she continued to speak. "The Fossil Center hired me to infiltrate the Digadigamid and investigate an incident. Those BB Bandit jerks tricked me down that stupid trapdoor. I assume the same thing happened to you. The BB Bandits are a secret organization that just can't seem to stop making trouble. Illegal fossil trading, destruction of dig sites… you name it. They're just a bad bunch…" She trailed off turning her attention back to Blaze. "Hey, kid? You okay?" She asked as her features creased with worry.

Said 'kid' was still looking at her with what could best be described as wide-eyed terror. His heart rate was spiking viciously out of his chest, his lips parted ever so slightly as he desperately tried to fight for air to fill his lungs. "I'm fine," he breathed out a little too quickly as one of his hands went to his chest. His voice cracked and sounded shaky as he tried to shake his head and banish the sensation.

"No, you really aren't," Nevada said, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. Roughly about as quick as a frightened cat the redhead leaped backward with a glare. Something almost growl like bubbled in the back of his throat and Nevada recoiled, her face shifting through various phases of shock before returning to worry.

Blaze took one more deep breath before straightening his back and attempting to compose himself. "I'm sorry… I just… don't like the noise that whips make," he muttered quietly, his eyes darting everywhere except for Nevada's face. He wrung his hands, unable to keep them still. He could hear the worried mutterings of his Vivosaurs. Nevada couldn't see it, but they could feel the way he shook ever so slightly.

"Alright. Trigger noted," she said simply. There were no words to describe how grateful he was that she let the topic drop. "Back to the matter at hand, right now the BB's are trying to steal the treasure of the Digadigamid. But I'm finally going to stop them! I've been reading the carvings on the wall here, they mention a Keymonite buried somewhere in the room. A Keymonite is an ancient creature, sort of like an ammonite, but that acts like a natural skeleton key. If we can find one, we're free. But my sonar's busted. Mind digging one up?"

"Suuuure. But we have Vivosaurs. I don't think that wall is much of a problem for 1000 pounds of angry Vivosaur," he said.

"Okay. First of all, we can't go around destroying an ancient structure. I will literally kill you if you break anything. Secondly, this room is too small for a Vivosaur big enough to break the door, we'd get hurt or crushed too!" She said with a dramatic sigh like these were the two most obvious things in the world.

"Alright, alright. I'll dig up the Keymonite," the boy said as he held up both his hands as a show of defeat. He quickly pulled out his sonar and started to ping it. Thanks to the increased size of his sonar he was quickly able to detect the one red blip.

"Great, you found one! The only problem is that we can't get it into a keyhole with it like that. Blaze, you'll need to clean that thing. Then we can get out," she said.

The look she was giving him, that expectant look, kept him from questioning why she couldn't just do it herself since he found the thing. He sighed heavily and shook his head before getting down to work. It was worrying how soft the rock itself was, the first hit alone proved that if he wasn't careful he was going to break this thing. He was quick to switch over to drill.

"Nice work!" Nevada praised as he pulled away. The cleaned Keymonite was quickly handed over. "Alright, let me see… Let's see if these things really can open any lock…" He watched her fiddle with the lock for a couple minutes till a clicking sound was heard. Before the redhead could really fully react there was a crashing noise from up above and then a crash from right behind him. He jumped forward and turned on his heels as he noticed the appearance of a ladder.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered to himself. All this time he'd thought the wall had been some kind of giant door. You know, like a normal person would assume. But no, the only way out was some ladder. Where did it come from? What kind of machinery was behind that wall that caused something like this to trigger? His sister might have had an idea, but he couldn't even begin to fathom the inner workings of this place.

"Great! Not what I was expecting, but we should be able to use this ladder to get out here," she said.

"I feel it," Blaze muttered as they started to climb the ladder, one after the other. After a climb that felt a little longer than their fall had been the two finally emerged into the dusty halls of the temple.

"We finally made it out! Couldn't have done it without ya, kid. Those BB jokers'll be in the treasure chamber at the top by now, let's book it," Nevada cheered.

The two raced through the halls as fast as their legs would carry them. Nevada straight up vaulted herself over any obstacles that stood in the way, her long legs carrying her much farther and faster than the much younger Blaze. The two redheads kept the pace until Nevada brought herself to a halt outside the treasure room. "The door is already open! Let's hope we're not too late," she said. Her tone dripped with worry as the two darted inside.

"Alright, nobody move!" She shouted. Blaze looked at the strange dog and the long-nosed man who turned on their heels in an instant, looks of terror in their eyes.

"Hey, check it out. The adventure dame teamed up with the pip-squeak Fighter. Adorable. Now, how did you two get out of that trap? I thought the thing was escape-proof!" The blond snarled almost as fiercely at the dog who stood at his hip growling deeply at the pair.

"Hardly," Nevada said with a bitter laugh. "Turns out a Level 2 Fighter could break out of there. This Level 2 Fighter next to me, to be exact. Now, since you needed a trapdoor to beat either of us, how will you fare against the two of us together," she laughed, arching her back slightly as she stared down her nose at the pair.

"They won't, that's how," Blaze said, continuing the taunt. His own features had become a confident smirk.

The two thugs glared at the pair, making noises somewhere between anger and distress. Suddenly, a woman's voice rang out sharply. "Do you two slackers think you can drag your feet a little _more?!_ " Her voice was an angry snarl that dripped with venom. Nevada scowled as the new woman approached.

"Oh no, she's back. Quick, look busy!" The long-nosed man told the dog.

Blaze felt his own expression turn into a glare as the mysterious woman approached. Her hair was long, kind of blue. Her skin was like cream and she wore the same outfit that the other two wore, except her boots and gloves were pink and she almost seemed to rock it better if you could say any of them looked good in it. "Oh, don't you two look… adventurey? Quite the pair, Ranger Red and Fossil Boy over here. I'm positively trembling!" She began to laugh. Nevada's cheeks turned as red as her hair, her mouth opening to form a retort. The woman across the pair didn't give either of them the chance.

"Wait a minute! Are you two loafers telling me you lost to this kid?" She snapped, her face instantly shifting into one of pure rage. The two underlings began to speak, trying to bail themselves out, but the woman didn't want to listen. "Hmph, I'm not sure if I should be impressed with the child or severely disappointed with the two of you!" Her voice spiked as she stood over the man and dog menacingly.

She sighed, tutting as she shook her head. "I supposed you've earned the right to know who we are at this point. Might as well do some good with yourselves and speak our legend," she sniffed as her eyes traveled across the pair, resting on Nevada slightly longer than Blaze. "Man's best friend here is Rex. If you happen to know what he is or where he's from, please do let me know. The gent with the long nose is Snivels. The nose isn't just for show, he can sniff things out even better than Rex," the two postured for a moment as their leader introduced them one by one.

"And me? Well, I'm the one who's stuck leading this bunch of wannabe villains. The name is Vivian. But you can just call me "your majesty" since I'll be the one owning you in a battle," she laughed as she puffed out her chest in a way that was maybe supposed to be intimidating or possibly sexy or… no… it was just a fail.

Blaze groaned quietly. "Good to know. Unlike your friends maybe you can back up your words with some actual skill," he huffed as he reached into his pouch, his fingers grazing over Zephyr's medal.

Nevada had a completely different reaction. "Vivian… I've heard of you. You're pretty high up in the BB Bandits," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"How flattering, what a pair of charmers. I'd love to stay and chat, but we have what we came for. So we'll be going now. Boys? Get your stuff and move." Vivian snapped as she ordered the pair to get.

Nevada, forgetting about Blaze's little problem, slapped her whip against the ground once more in a show that was meant to intimidating. "Only if you think you can beat both of us, Vivian. Ready, Blaze? Blaze?" The woman asked. Blaze had come to a complete standstill, not moving even in the slightest.

"Oh look at him, the little boy is completely petrified with fear!" Vivian laughed. "Now Rex," she growled. The dog darted forward, forcing its way between Blaze and Nevada. Though the older fighter did her best to catch them, she didn't accomplish much as Blaze easily crashed to the ground.

"Stop you! I won't let the lot of you escape!" Nevada yelled. The door was quickly shut on the pair though. "NO! They locked the door from the outside… What do we do?" The woman said with hints of frustration in her voice. "Ugh! I can't believe I keep falling into such simple traps. This is the worst mission I've ever been on…" She huffed.

Blaze stood up quietly, dusting himself off. He was completely silent once more as the mood shifted to one of battel to the heavy atmosphere of despair. "I… I'm sorry," he said quietly glancing towards Nevada.

"No. I should have remembered about the whip thing… Though I am curious, what's with it?" She asked.

"A story I don't want to tell," he said a little too quickly. "Come on, let's just look for a way out," he urged.

"The only clue we have are these runes on the wall here though, and I can't make sense of them!" Nevada said as she looked at the inside of the door. Blaze tilted his head.

"That's odd…" He said quietly as he looked at the words.

"What is it?" Nevada asked as she watched the boy's expression go from puzzled to curious.

"This is Ancient Crivin. It's a language that was used in my home country a long time ago. When my sister and I were really young this is what we were taught to speak. It's a long story as to why, but let's just say when we finally got exposed to other kids we weren't really good at the current language of our home country. Speaking to others was often a difficulty, and I remember we used to get bullied for it a lot because we couldn't 'speak properly' and that made us 'stupid'. I used to hate the language because of that…" He went quiet for a couple moments, a despairing look taking over his features.

"I wonder if I overreacted earlier," he muttered to himself thinking back on how he'd pretty much flipped at the Digadig leader. Yeah. That was an overreaction. Rosie had overreacted and then he panicked and then he overreacted and now he felt guilty.

Nevada didn't make any note of his muttering as she turned back to the wall. "Well, that makes sense why I can't read it. But if that's the case, why is it here in the ancient Digadigamid? Furthur more, can you figure out what it's trying to say?" She said.

Blaze moved forward looking through the scribblings. "Well, most of it is just nonsense using the characters of the language, but if you line up the letters at the end then it spells out Dig. I think that's our clue…" He said, "I'm gonna look around for a few and try to figure it out."

The noticed two pillars of solidified bone in the corner that stood out compared to the rest of the completely clean room. It wouldn't make sense for such things to be in a treasure room unless they were trying to point to something. The redhead took his chance and slammed down his pick in the center of the two. Lo and behold a tunnel opened up where the tip broke earth. "Found it!" He called out.

Nevada was quick to rush over. "You did it! A Secret tunnel. It looks like this goes right to the exit. It might even get us ahead of those cheap crooks. Ready, partner? Let's go get that treasure back!"

The two jumped down the hole, going down a long slide. It was made of slick stone that was easy to glide down, a stone slide that brought them all the way to the exit. "Who the heck constructed this thing?" Blaze had to ask. For being ancient it was pretty advanced and innovative.

Nevada ignored the question. "Yes, we're at the entrance! Good work, Blaze. The BB's are still inside. We can trap them and force them into a battle. I think I can take them, but I'm glad to have you backing me up. Let's give them what for!"

The two moved forward, ready to set their trap into place. As the BB's approached a look of shock set itself onto Vivian's face before she had the chance to school her expression. "Well, I have to admit that I'm a little impressed. However did you ever manage to escape? Eh, no matter. I suppose you're going to want a battle now?" She purred as she narrowed her eyes.

Nevada snarled. "Get ready to face the wrath of Nevada Montecarlo!" She howled. Reaching into her pocket, a look of dread made its way across her features. "Wait… where did my Dino medals go!?" The panic was evident in her voice as she began to pat down her person.

"Good job Red! You have one job," Snivels howled with laughter before Vivian held up a hand.

"Snivles," her tone was sharp as she turned to the man. He instantly closed his mouth and ducked his head to the woman. Turning back to the pair she stated, "Now then, I suppose you'll just have to let us through." She laughed, gliding forward with a graceless kind of pride and a graceful kind of gait.

Blaze jumped in the way. "Forgetting someone?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared the woman down.

"Ugh! This brat. So you're going to step in and fight me in her place, huh? As you wish, but you should know my Vivosaurs are far more powerful than these two fools. I hope you're ready for a thrashing, you bratty little child. I'll show you how real adults fight." She laughed.

Her Vivosaurs were quick to leave her hands, a Nychus and a Lambeo. They watched Blaze carefully as he grabbed for his own Vivosaurs. A wave of anxious fear settled over him in an instant as he watched the vicious calculation in the eyes of the Lambeo. It… this woman… She...

Blaze grit his teeth and released his own team. For this battle, he favored Hep, Athena, and Zephyr since he had no water Vivosaurs. He had Athena take the lead since her attacks required far less energy than Hep or Zep.

The enemy team remained completely still, almost like they were tempting Blaze's own team to take the first attack. The deep yellow eyes of the Nychus seemed to bore right into Blaze, a true contrast to Shango. Athena returned the look 10 fold, stepping into its point of view and blocking Blaze off from its scathing eyes. Her body language was protective and she released a vicious hiss.

"Toxic combo, quickly," he called out to Athena. The raptor leaped forward to deliver the attack on the Nychus, but the creature stayed standing. That was bad.

It returned the attack easily, trading a poisonous attack for a poisonous attack. Except in Athena's case, she actually managed to get poisoned and couldn't dish it out. She whimpered as the gash on her side seemed to ooze green, marring her beautiful blue and white fur. She snarled, acting before Blaze could give the order.

Delivering a sharp Veloci-claw to the Nychus managed to take it out. After her attack, she was quick to fall back and put Zephyr on lead. The ferocious Spinax, fairly enraged at this point, lashed out at the remaining Lambeo. His jaws sunk deep into fragile flesh as the Lambeo tried to leap away. It managed to do a good amount of damage, but not nearly enough. The Lambeo glared at them silently, Vivian the entire time hadn't said a word. A confident smirk had rested on her lips up until the Nychus fell. Now her face was the picture of rage.

Blaze could feel a constriction in his chest, his energy draining. "Pause for a moment and try to endure the next hits," he wheezed as he felt waves of unbridled rage flowing off of the Spinax. Hep was quick to step in, standing between the Spinax and his quarry. Blaze felt energy poor back into him as the Vivosaurs braced the attacks. He couldn't let Zephyr stay there and take it thought. One more attack from the Lambeo and he'd be down for the count.

"Hep! Lead," Blaze called out. The S-Raptor pushed in front of the Spinax and Athena flanked him, putting Zephyr in the back and away from the action. The S-Raptor was quick to deliver a ferocious S-Combo that took down the last parts of the Lambeo's health.

Vivian took a shaky step back. "H-how? How did you do that? I've never lost before!" Her voice rose in volume quickly turning whiny.

"Time to hand over the stolen goods!" Nevada said, her voice a sharp demand.

Vivian scowled fiercely. "Fine, just take it already. Give it to them," she commanded. The treasure was quickly tossed to Nevada. "You won't be this lucky twice, child. Next time we meet, I'll crush you!" Her stare was venomous as she ran away, her two lackeys quickly trailing behind her.

Nevada sighed before turning to Blaze. "As much as I'd love to take them in, we have more important matters. You were absolutely amazing Blaze, a sight to behold. Couldn't have asked for a better partner in the field. Let's take this thing back to the chieftain and tell him the good news," she said, giving him a warm smile.

The two approach the villain and Blaze glanced at the Digadigs. They gave warry looks as they watched the two pass. The chieftain, as if right on cue, emerged from his tent. "Oh! This is… definitely the stolen key to the treasure chamber, digadig! Young Fighter boy, you have done a great… service for the Digadigs, and for that, I thank you, digadig!"

"Chieftain, we also managed to recover the stolen treasure," Nevada said handing over a small statue. "Although… I've studied a lot about the Digadig culture, and yet I've never seen an idol like this before."

"You are.. mistaken, red-haired Fighter Woman. This is not originally one of our treasures. Not long ago, I dug a hole to dump some food scraps and found this, digadig. I put it in the treasure chamber… because I thought it neat… and pretty… digadig." The man said. Blaze watched the exchange quietly, falling back into a comfortable silence. It was better for him not to speak.

"I don't get it. There were much more valuable things to steal, so why this? No offense to your sense of style, but why would the BB Bandits want such a tackey idol," she asked with a tilt of her head.

The chieftain turned to the idol. "Could the value of this treasure just be… hidden from us, digadig?" He looked down at the idol with critical eyes and then glanced at Blaze. "Ah! This idol should be a…. suitable reward for returning our key to us, digadig!" The chieftain picked up the idol and quickly forced it into Blaze's hands before he had much time to react. "The Digadig people are very grateful to you. Take this idol, so that we might… idolize you, digadig!" The chief's laughter was a deep and aged rumble as a look of disgust crossed Nevada's face.

The important question still rested at the forefront of Blaze's mind. Before he could bring it up, a voice cut through the air. "Grateful, schmateful, diga-dude!" A swath of pink approached. Her disposition anything but happy. "Blaze got your key back. Now, please, please, please take this diga-darn spell off of me!" She pleaded, her eyes still panicky.

"Very well, I will do as you request," the chief said with a quick dip of his head. Blaze could feel the pinpricks of protective annoyance once again starting to prod the back of his mind. His home was different from Vivosaur Island, but he couldn't help but worry. People were cruel and judged others harshly on anything from the clothes you wore, to the accent you held, to the last name that you carried. His growing fondness for Rosie… he didn't want her to have to go through a quarter of the things he put up with as a child.

The chief once again repeated the hip-shaking dance, and again a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and into Rosie. The girl screeched, her body swaying slightly after the electricity faded. Blaze flinched, his hand rolling into a fist. "The spell has been… removed, digadig," he said and Blaze sighed in relief.

"Whew! Finally, I can speak like my old self again… digadig." The girl spoke, but became completely petrified the moment the words left her mouth. Blaze's own jaw dropped slightly as his gaze turned on the chief.

"Wait, did I just say "digadig?"… Digadig." Rosie turned on the chief in an instant. "No! it's even worse now, digadig!" Rosie whimpered out, her expression was completely heartbroken.

The chief just laughed, not really taking it seriously. "There are sometimes… complications in spell removal, digadig. Just go about your business and it should go away. For now, diga-deal with it," the man said with another bout of snickering.

As Rosie began to cry Blaze darted forward to wrap an arm around her. "It's okay. Shhh. It'll be over soon. I'll take you home," he said. Leaning closer he whispered to her, "and we'll never come back unless we absolutely have to."

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 **If you liked the chapter or felt that there's something I could have improved on, please leave a comment. It really helps!**


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